Update: Spring 2018
Originally appeared in the Spring 2018 Issue of the Upper Midwest Cervid Newsletter
Happy Spring Greetings everyone, I hope this nice weather finds you and your families and farms in good health and prosperous. As I type this update, we are rapidly approaching fawning and antler growing season which is an exciting time of year for us but can also be challenging with herd health issues that can come along from time to time. I would encourage everyone to use the resources and knowledge within our membership and industry to help with any problems that may arise on your farm.
As of right now things are very quiet at our state capitol in Springfield concerning the deer farming and hunting ranch industry. I expect that to continue leading into the midterm election coming in November when we could see a big shift depending on the Governor election results. A new administration will usher in new personnel in our state government such as the DNR director who will set the tone and direct policy that can have an effect on our industry. With that being said I can tell you I feel good about having our contract and relationship with our lobbyist going forward at this time. As many of you know, we fell short of making budget this past year, which would put us in a position to not be able to make our monthly lobbyist payments. I had a good conversation with our lobbyist, and he agreed to lower his fee by 300 dollars a month to help us get by for now. Combined with that agreement, the board decided to seek out cash donations to enable us to make budget until our next meeting this coming year. That effort would require about $7000.00 cash to be raised between now and the end of September. As of today, I am pleased to tell you that thanks to the gracious cash donations of some of our members we have raised $5150.00 so far and I have no doubt we will finish up hitting our goal soon. I would like to those who were asked and stepped up with their generous donations to help with this endeavor.
All of this leads into our 2018 annual membership meeting and fundraiser which has been set for Saturday September 15th at the Penn Station Center in Arthur, IL. Please mark your calendars for this event, as it is so important that we have a well-attended meeting and fundraiser. The board of directors has been meeting and planning early for this event and are doing their best to have a successful event that will enable us to continue supporting our deer farms and hunting ranches here in Illinois. Donations are starting to come in at this time and we will start updating the ildfa.com website and our Facebook page with the details of our event in the near future so don’t forget to mark those calendars for September 15th!
Happy Spring Greetings everyone, I hope this nice weather finds you and your families and farms in good health and prosperous. As I type this update, we are rapidly approaching fawning and antler growing season which is an exciting time of year for us but can also be challenging with herd health issues that can come along from time to time. I would encourage everyone to use the resources and knowledge within our membership and industry to help with any problems that may arise on your farm.
As of right now things are very quiet at our state capitol in Springfield concerning the deer farming and hunting ranch industry. I expect that to continue leading into the midterm election coming in November when we could see a big shift depending on the Governor election results. A new administration will usher in new personnel in our state government such as the DNR director who will set the tone and direct policy that can have an effect on our industry. With that being said I can tell you I feel good about having our contract and relationship with our lobbyist going forward at this time. As many of you know, we fell short of making budget this past year, which would put us in a position to not be able to make our monthly lobbyist payments. I had a good conversation with our lobbyist, and he agreed to lower his fee by 300 dollars a month to help us get by for now. Combined with that agreement, the board decided to seek out cash donations to enable us to make budget until our next meeting this coming year. That effort would require about $7000.00 cash to be raised between now and the end of September. As of today, I am pleased to tell you that thanks to the gracious cash donations of some of our members we have raised $5150.00 so far and I have no doubt we will finish up hitting our goal soon. I would like to those who were asked and stepped up with their generous donations to help with this endeavor.
All of this leads into our 2018 annual membership meeting and fundraiser which has been set for Saturday September 15th at the Penn Station Center in Arthur, IL. Please mark your calendars for this event, as it is so important that we have a well-attended meeting and fundraiser. The board of directors has been meeting and planning early for this event and are doing their best to have a successful event that will enable us to continue supporting our deer farms and hunting ranches here in Illinois. Donations are starting to come in at this time and we will start updating the ildfa.com website and our Facebook page with the details of our event in the near future so don’t forget to mark those calendars for September 15th!
