OCA President - Bill Moore

I was born in Ontario, OR. in 1955 and was raised on a small purebred Hereford operation outside of Vale, OR. which was developed by my father, grandfather and great-grandfather.  I attended Vale schools where my interests were basketball, hunting and getting off the farm. 

I attended Treasure Valley Community College on a basketball scholarship and graduated from there with an Assoc. of Science Degree in Wildlife Management.  I then transferred to Oregon State University and completed my BS in Wildlife Management.  During and after college I worked for the Oregon Dept of Fish and Wildlife in different places and in different jobs around Oregon. 

I married Nancy Ingle in 1978 and we have two children.  Nate graduated from Eastern Oregon University and he and his wife Cassie ranch at Hereford Oregon.  Cassie also teaches K-4th grades at the Unity school.  They have two children.  Macey will be three years old April 18^th, 2008 and Krece William David was born February 21, 2008.  Our daughter Sara also graduated from E.O.U.  She is married to Barry Downie and she teaches 1st grade at Monmouth, OR.  Barry will complete his final year of Veterinary Medicine in June 2008 and then plans to join his father’s vet practice in Roseburg. 

In 1979 I left state employment and went to work for Atlantic Richfield in their ag-bio group, eventually rising to the position of Sr. VP in charge of worldwide production, processing, packaging and shipping of vegetable and field seeds for ARCO Seed Co.  I left the seed company after it sold in 1987 and started a seed distribution business, which we continue to operate today. 

In 1978 we bought our first cattle and have continued to build since then.  We currently run cattle in Malheur and Baker counties and headquarter near Unity on a combination of deeded and rented private and public ground.  Currently we are running cattle on about 2500 acres of irrigated hay and pasture land and about 20,000 acres of rangeland. 

Ours is truly a family operation where we try to run with very little hired or outside help and rely on neighbor helping neighbor and family helping family. 

I have served on the board of directors for the Farmers Supply Co-op and board of directors for Oregon Trail Beef, as President of the Malheur Co. Cattlemen and as a committee chair and regional VP for the Oregon Cattlemen’s Assoc.  In 2000, I was named Agriculturist of the Year by the City of Ontario Chamber of Commerce. 

I currently serve on the board of directors for the Burnt River Irrigation District, board of directors for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Assoc. and as President of the Oregon Cattlemen’ Assoc. 

Nancy recently retired to enjoy the grandchildren and it appears to try and keep me in line at the ranch after 25 years of Breast Cancer Detection work at Holy Rosary Medical Center in Ontario. 

I believe that everyone in this industry has an obligation to donate time and energy to make this a better industry and better country.  I choose to be in this business and am proud to be associated with the cattle producers of Oregon and will do whatever I can to protect and promote our interests.  This will hopefully enable our children and grandchildren to continue to use renewable natural resources to build strong economies and continue to enjoy the same standard of living that I enjoy today.  

Who would have thought that the seventeen-year-old searching to get off the land and leave the farm was really searching for a way to improve the life that the land offers