(JUNE 20, 2021) – Three new directors from across the country have been selected to join the ranks of existing United States Cattlemen’s Association (USCA) leadership. Spanning from the Mid-Atlantic to the Pacific Northwest (and everywhere in-between!), USCA’s dedicated leadership connects us to our producer membership and drives our association forward.
The USCA membership is structured into regions that, builds our grassroots strength and connects us to local priorities. From there, we can use these regional breakouts to mobilize our membership and produce focused results on Capitol Hill. USCA’s regional directors serve as the conduit to these regions, representing members in their states and providing leadership, connections, and guidance.
Robert Groom joins USCA leadership as Region XV Director. From Lyons, New York, he comes from a state with a surprisingly robust cattle industry. According to the 2017 Ag Census, livestock and dairy production was the largest sector of agriculture and provided $3.2 billion value of production to farmers that year. He will not only represent his own state, but also the northeastern states of Pennsylvania, New York, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut New Jersey, Delaware and Rhode Island.
Groom runs a registered and commercial cow/calf operation. They own and manage cows and replacement heifers and market bulls and feeder calves through their own sale. He comes from a unique background, having grown up farming in the United Kingdom. With this experience, he has a distinctive perspective that he brings to the leadership team. Of note, he has extensive first-hand knowledge with the implementation and management of a workable animal identification program, and hopes to bring that expertise to USCA. He also has a keen understanding of the impact of government regulation on the agriculture industry, and a need to hold elected leaders accountable to the people they serve.
Groom states that he appreciates the positions USCA has taken to represent the U.S. producer over the years and will look to serve producers in his region by determining ways to increase profitability in the industry. He set his goals as a USCA director to include both an increase in membership in his region, as well as bringing the industry to the forefront of policymakers’ priorities. As he put it, “My aim is to grow the membership of USCA in the northeast, to expand our influence on lawmakers at the state and national levels for the benefit of independent beef cattle producers, with the ultimate goal being opportunity for growth and profit for our members.”
Contact Robert at rgroom67@gmail.com or
check out his website at http://www.tullyfergus.com/.