Fitzpatrick is Grand Champion NCBA Top Hand for 2nd Straight Year

DENVER (October 22, 2002) – J.D. Fitzpatrick of Winchester, Kentucky will be recognized by the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) as the 2002 NCBA Top Hand Club Champion during the 2003 Cattle Industry Convention and Trade Show in Nashville, Tenn., Jan. 29 to Feb. 1, 2003.

The NCBA Top Hand Club is a “member-recruit-a-member” program sponsored exclusively by Merial.  The 2002 club had 163 members participating, recruiting nearly 1,350 new members to NCBA nationwide.

Fitzpatrick, an order buyer, recruited 143 new NCBA members to become the 2002 Top Hand Club Champion.   Close behind was Angus breeder and NCBA Membership Committee Chairman Mark Nelson of Wilton, Calif., with 125 new NCBA members.  Both will earn trips to the 2003 Cattle Industry Convention and Trade Show in Nashville along with other prizes.

“Top Hand Club members are a special group who are active in all facets of the beef industry, from national board and committee members to state leadership,” says Wythe Willey, former Top Hand Club Champion and current NCBA president.  “Only by strengthening the membership base of NCBA through recruiting can producers strengthen their own voice, as well as the voice of the industry, in Washington, D.C,” he adds.

With the longstanding support of Merial, the NCBA Top Hand Club program recognizes those members who continually give their time and efforts to increasing membership.  To become a new Top Hand Club member, producers need to recruit three new NCBA members by September 30^th of each year.  For their efforts, Top Hand Club members earn products ranging from NCBA apparel to Cattle Industry Convention packages.  For more information or recruitment tools, contact NCBA’s membership department at 303-694-0305.

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