LIMOUSIN TODAY LIMOUSIN TODAY - September 2017 | Page 18

Performance Line
“The Road Goes Ever On and On”
By Joe Epperly, assistant executive director
The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door
where it began.
Now far ahead the
Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths
and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.
-J.R.R. Tolkien, The
Fellowship of the Ring
The idea of life as a road has
always been one that speaks to
me. Life has taken me down a
lot of roads, and during some
of that windshield time I often
think about where I would be if
I’d taken a left instead of a right
or made a U-turn somewhere
along the way. But life, much
like the road, is traveled
forward and I find the path
looks much different when you
come back to it to try again.
The Limousin breed is on the
road. We continue to look back
at the paths untrodden and
guess what might have been,
but those turns are gone and
can’t come back. Now, the breed
is coming to some crossroads
ahead that will determine
16 | SEPTEMBER 2017
its fate. The questions below
will determine the road that
Limousin will travel in the future.
Can Limousin breeders all get on
the same road?
Fullblood Limousin Alliance,
Heartland Limousin Association,
4-States Limousin Association,
Oklahoma Limousin Breeders
Association, Performance
Limousin Breeders, Limousin
Idea Forum, etc., all of these
groups serve a purpose
as a grassroots part of the
membership. They can be
the heart and soul of the
organization and help bring
Limousin breeders and ideas
together to grow membership
and the breed. But when folks
decide to participate in those
entities and not the national
organization, their message
can sometimes be lost. When
those groups become about
tearing down the national
organization rather than
participating, being all-inclusive,
or coming with solutions,
then their purpose is lost.
No matter the organization,
the state and regional
organizations should help build
the foundation of the national
organization. NALF allows
members to run for the national
board, with only 15 member
signatures, which is a unique
opportunity among breed
associations. Those names could
be generated easily through
any of these organizations and
yet we haven’t had a write-in
candidate added to the ballot
in years. It is your organization
and if you want a say then
all you need to do is follow
the process in order to get it
expressed. It doesn’t matter
what kind of cattle you raise,
whether you care about their
EPDs, or whether you show
cattle. It’s about being a part of
something bigger than yourself.
Will Limousin breeders support
one another?
In the past seven years, there
are only a handful of people
that can say that they’ve been
to more Limousin events in
the United States or around
the world than I have. It still
surprises me that few breeders
will make it a point to attend
their fellow breeder’s events.
Maybe you’re scared that other
breeders will come to steal your
customers or others will think
that of you. I guess I’m naïve to
think that if you go to someone’s
sale to visit and support them
as a friend it can be construed
as bad. As someone who has
conducted sales, open houses,
and other events, your single