Erin Karney is a sixth-generation cattle rancher who grew up in Las Animas, CO, in the southeastern part of the state. In early 2022, Erin replaced Terry Fankhauser as Colorado Cattlemen’s Association’s (CCA) executive vice president after he served in the position for 22 years.
“I’m really proud to be trusted in this position to lead the association,” Erin told WLJ. “I’ve been involved in CCA for four generations ever since I was a junior Colorado Cattlemen’s member, and so this organization really holds a special place for me and my family.”
Despite growing up in agriculture, Erin didn’t know whether she wanted to be involved in the industry until participating in FFA and seeing the wide variety of career opportunities available. Erin graduated from Colorado State University (CSU) in 2012 with bachelor’s degrees in animal science and agricultural business, and received her master’s degree in meat science in 2014.
Erin said she pursued her master’s degree at CSU because the university has an excellent meat science program, which allowed her to coach the meat judging team.
“I grew up on a ranch, and my brother actually runs and manages a feedlot, so I’m pretty exposed to those aspects,” Erin said. “But before I went to CSU, I’d never been in a packing plant before or exposed to that side. So, I really wanted to get a whole view and understand the supply chain of the beef industry, and I think that the master’s really helped me understand the whole beef system.”
After graduation, Erin worked in quality assurance in Washington at AB Foods LLC for a couple of years. Erin then wanted to be closer to home, and worked as director of industry programs at CCA for several years. While serving as the director, Erin worked on grants and member programs, along with the ranching legacy program and issues management.
There had been conversations at CCA about a replacement for Fankhauser when he planned to return to his family’s cattle ranch in Kansas, and the board of directors had conversations about hiring internally or looking nationally for a candidate. After several interviews and conversations with the board, Erin was selected to replace Fankhauser.
Since taking the helm at CCA, Erin has attended affiliate meetings and tackled the cattle industry’s issues. Erin said while there have been few issues or bills in the current Colorado legislative session affecting agriculture, CCA has spent a lot of time educating the freshman legislators about agriculture. Erin said there are 31 newly elected legislators who have limited knowledge about agriculture, and it seems “like an uphill battle.” CCA has been taking legislators to ranches to meet producers and provide an opportunity to highlight what they are doing in Colorado.
A hot-button issue for CCA and its members is the reintroduction of gray wolves in the state after voters approved a measure in 2020.
Erin said CCA has been keeping its members informed and having them and the association at meetings held by the Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) Commission. CCA also provided research for the commission and its members to help draft the wolf management plan.
“The management plan is not perfect, but I think the work that CCA, our members and other ag organizations did during the stakeholder advisory meetings got the plan to a much better place than people were expecting,” Erin said. “I think there are still issues, and we are working through the remaining issues with the CPW Commission and staff on the draft management plan.”
Erin said the issue of wolf reintroduction is a three-prong approach. First, it’s the draft management plan. Second is the proposition of an experimental population under Section 10(j) rule of the Endangered Species Act. Third is working with legislators to get compensation bills for depredation losses and language in a bill to ensure wolves are not introduced before the 10(j) rule.
Erin encourages members to comment on the 10(j) rule. Comments may be submitted by visiting www.regulations.gov and searching for Docket ID FWS-R6-ES-2022-0100. She said CCA is seeking legal counsel to comment on the proposal, as they need the 10(j) rule in place for management flexibility.
Erin said there should be a partnership with the Colorado Beef Council to build trust with the legislature and consumers to promote Colorado producers and beef.
“I think our job is to educate and make sure there’s an understanding of production practices to the legislative body and understand that ranchers are doing the best possible job to take care of cattle and other livestock as well,” Erin said. “And then I think it’s also working to demystify those production practices to the general public.” — Charles Wallace, WLJ editor
