By Jeremy Foster, Staff Writer

 

Beef is considered one of North America’s most popular sources of protein, but for a group of local women, it’s also a bastion of passion and camaraderie.

About 78 people comprise the Santa Barbara County Cattlewomen Association, devoted to promoting beef throughout the county.

Mindy Christian, president of the local chapter, said the mission of the association is to educate producers on market trends and increase consumer knowledge through education and promotion, as well as to support the youth of the county.

“I think sometimes the media doesn’t give beef the best rap,” Christian says. “You tend to see more articles talking about how bad it is for you. It’s important for our members to talk about the benefits of the industry.”

To this end, members reach out to classrooms, do cooking demonstrations, serve at senior center dinners, hand out informational leaflets and create fundraising activities to provide scholarships to students.

In recent years, as cattle ranchers have seen numerous issues facing the beef industry, they have begun to follow legislation more closely and lobby against certain environmental rules and regulations that crop up from time to time. The estate tax is a major concern because, they say, it discourages families from keeping their land in agricultural production.

 

These issues weren’t as pressing when the American Cattlewomen originally formed out of a desire to carry on the traditions of cattle grazing and to promote beef.

Formally known as the Cow Belles, the association dates back to 1939 when ranchers and their wives in Douglas, Ariz., began hosting get-togethers, where cattlemen and women danced, swapped old round-up yarns and discussed issues related to cattle ranching — such as rain, drought and markets.

A kinship among the wives and mothers of cattlemen formed, and soon other groups spread across the country under the leadership of Mattie Cowan. Santa Barbara County’s chapter began in 1952 and was made up of a handful of women whose families were the backbone of cattle ranching in the area.

The association still reflects that familial stronghold in the county, but members are not required to own cattle as long as they have an interest in the industry.

Nancy Cornelius Williams, of Buellton, was a two-time Cattlewomen president, in 1977 and 1985, and her roots in the association run deep. Her grandmother, Ora Cornelius, presided over the Cow Belles in 1953 and her mother, Rosalie Cornelius, also served as president.

 

An only child, Williams grew up on the family ranch, and as her mother did as a youth, rode horses and roped, gathered and branded calves. She operated the ranch with her husband until he died in 2001, and now one of her three sons, Jerry Williams Jr., helps her maintain the business. 

“It’s our way of life,” she said, smiling. “We wake up, and this is our office.”

Williams currently serves as the association’s director of promotion, helping design items such as caps, aprons, sweatshirts, T-shirts, visors and gift baskets to sell at fairs.

She’s also one of several members who follow pending legislation that could affect the industry, most recently the state’s slash of funding for the Williamson Act, which gives landowners incentives to keep their land in agriculture by providing tax breaks.

“Some of us used to focus more on education and passing on recipes, but have now turned to the environmental issues that affect our way of life,” she said. “The government is trying to squeeze us out all the time. I think a lot of them believe they’re entitled to public use of our land, such as trails.”

Brandy Luton Branquinho lives with her husband, John, former president of the Cattlemen’s Association, on Rancho San Juan in Los Alamos, the same ranch her family has tended since the 1800s.

 

As long as she can remember, the Cattlewomen’s Association has been a part of her life. Her mother, Nancy Dickenson Luton, was an active member and treasurer. Branquinho became a member in 1975 but didn’t become heavily involved until all her children had graduated high school in 1998, the year before she became a member of the association’s board of directors.

Branquinho says the Cattlewomen’s Association has heightened the roles women play in the ranching industry.

”When my mom first moved to the ranch, the women didn’t work the cattle,” she said. “They cooked and took care of the kids. And that’s not what my mother wanted to do. Watching her become part of the crew at the ranch is where I found my love for ranching.”   

Branquinho’s greatest joy has been passing on her passion for the industry to the youth. She particularly enjoys raising money for schools and scholarships. This year, 12 scholarships were awarded to nutrition classes and beef agriculture programs at local elementary and high schools, and four were given to graduating high school seniors going on to college. 

 

“I want anyone who has some kind of background in agriculture to have a higher education,” Branquinho said. “Though we’d like to see students go into the industry, it doesn’t matter if they become doctors, lawyers, or teachers, as long as they incorporate that background into whatever they do.”

Lauren Scheller, 25, is one of the younger members of the Cattlewomen’s Association. The ninth-generation Californian grew up cattle ranching and continues that passion at her parent’s Los Alamos ranch, which was established in the early 18th century through a Mexican land grant.

Scheller has degrees in animal science and agricultural business from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. She now combines her education and her passion to promote beef at schools and county fairs.

“It’s a way for us to reach out to others rather than preaching to the choir,” Scheller says. “It’s our job for people who live this lifestyle and are producing food and fiber to educate people, and especially kids, so that they know where food comes from.”

Scheller says kids are surprised to find out that items manufactured from beef by-products are all around us. Tires, soap, asphalt, cosmetics, fire extinguishing foam and even pharmaceuticals such as insulin are all derived from cattle. 

 

“Surviving today in ranching, you do have to think outside the box,” says Scheller of educating people about the benefits of beef.

She and others say education is an important focus of today’s cattlewomen as cattle grazing has become increasingly squeezed out by vineyards, and, they contend, overbearing environmental rules and regulations.

“I think it has and will always be a challenging industry,” Scheller says. “There are fewer acres in the country dedicated to grazing cattle, yet there’s more beef produced.”

Cattlewomen say their strong heritage is the protein that helps keep their industry at least surviving, if not thriving.

“We get to be around women who live a similar lifestyle and face the same hardship and share the same joys of living and producing on the land,” Scheller says. “It helps keep us going.”

 

jfoster@syvjournal.com