On Monday, the nation celebrated Presidents’ Day, the federal holiday established to honor America’s leaders, past and present. However, the holiday was originally established in 1885 in recognition of President George Washington’s birthday.

Washington was an avid agriculturalist and raised a variety of crops and livestock on his Virginia estate, Mount Vernon. He kept up to 350 head of cattle, each branded with a “GW.” If you’re interested in little Presidents’ Day cattle history, there’s a short article on the Mount Vernon website here.

Tuesday marked the beginning of early voting in Texas for the primary election. Early voting runs through Feb. 28 in Texas. In Oklahoma, early voting starts next week, Feb. 27-29. The actual primary election will be held Tuesday, March 3.

In case you missed it: Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association’s Political Action Committee, or PAC, last week released primary voting recommendations. Staff and volunteer leaders spent the last several months gathering information and speaking with candidates. The PAC trustees then put together a list of voting recommendations with the candidates we feel will best represent our members and all cattle producers.

You can view and download those voting recommendations by clicking here.

Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady headlined a town hall event in Navasota where attendees aired concerns with a proposed high-speed rail line from Houston to Dallas. The proposed project has been in the works for years and threatens to cut through 11 rural counties, devastating farms, ranches and homes along the way. We have long opposed the project, in part because of the developers continued attempts to utilize condemnation to take land for the private project.

Congressman Brady and other state and local officials, including Texas State Senator Lois Kolkhorst, vowed to continue fighting the project. If you’re interested in learning more, check out Texans Against High-Speed Rail on Facebook.

That’s all for this week, but Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association’s government and public affairs staff will keep up the good fight until next time.

-Jeremy

Jeremy Fuchs is Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association’s director of public affairs.