President’s Message
Thank You for the Opportunity to Serve
By Gary Fuchs, NALF president
Hello all! Welcome to Limousin 2018.
It is an honor and a pleasure for me
to serve as your president this year.
As I write this article, I have just
returned home from Denver and
our activities conducted during the
National Western Stock Show. It was
exciting to be in Denver and witness
some of the future of our breed. We
have an opportunity to grab the
excitement generated in Denver and
use it to develop excitement for our
own cattle at the products we produce.
In the early 1970’s, when we were
just getting established as a breed in
North America, we witnessed the pride
that breeders, who used Limousin
genetics, had in this new opportunity.
I remember at our farm the way my
grandfather reacted when he had
his first 50 percent calves in 1971.
He showed them to everyone. He
was genuinely excited about his new
genetics and wanted to share that pride.
We have that same opportunity now
with our cattle in 2018. We have many
things to offer other breeders that want
to grow and especially to commercial
cattlemen that want to change the
performance of their calves. We need
to do everything we can to encourage
6 | FEBRUARY 2018
each other and work together to grow
our breed. In this issue, we start to see
the excitement our fellow breeders
have in their programs as they promote
their bull sales. I encourage you to
take the time to visit a bull sale that is
close to you. There is an opportunity
to support, encourage, and learn
when you attend a sale near you. some of the best cattle that we have had
the opportunity to see in the shows.
We have a desire for our breed to
grow in the next few years. We need to
remember that growth just for the sake
of growing is not best. We need to grow
with quality so that we can develop
and retain markets for our breed. And finally, to the members of the
board of directors and those that
work on NALF committees, thank you
for the time you dedicate to NALF.
Especially, I give extra thanks to Bret
Begert and his dedication to the breed
during his 2 terms as president.
I want to use the end of my space here
to offer some notes of congratulations
and thanks. First of all, thank you
to everyone who attended and
participated in the events in Denver. I
enjoyed the opportunity to meet many
breeders and look forward to meeting
more of you as the year goes on.
Second, thank you to each ranch or
individual that used their time and
resources to exhibit cattle in the various
events. I congratulate each of the
winners. We should be very proud of
the cattle that were exhibited on the
hill and in the yards. This year had to be
Next, I want to thank each person
that worked to help each event be
conducted in a quality manner. To Mark
and the NALF staff, to our volunteers,
and junior members; I give you my
sincere thanks for your work.
I want thank Dennis Alt, Chad Settje,
Chris Milam, and Fred Wacker as they
leave the board. It was a pleasure to
work with each of you during your term
on the board. I welcome Bruce Lawrence,
Charles Linhart, Wade Beckman, and
Randy Corns to the board as new
members starting in 2018. For each of
the new and continuing directors, I look
forward to a busy and productive year
working for the good of our breed.
Good luck to each of you in
2018. Let’s work together to
make our breed great. I