Understanding there is more than safety in numbers, there is the chance to do a lot with a little is why Lawrence County farmers who raise cattle want to start a countywide cattlemen’s association.

“We have a lot of small farmers and if we can have an organized process, we might be able to market cattle better,” Gene Myers, one of the association organizers, said. “Take myself, I have been around cattle and the show end for a long time. There are a lot of people raising cattle as part of their living. We are trying to get all these individuals together to work together and establish a group.”

On Thursday at 7 p.m. there will be a meeting at the farm of Dr. Mike Dyer in Chesapeake to explore the local interest to start the Lawrence County Cattlemen’s Association.

Myers sees the organization also as an opportunity for cattlemen, whether large or small operations, to learn more about the industry.

“To let people who raise cattle learn how to manage the cattle through nutrition, medication, pasture management so they can have a higher yielding crop,” Myers said. “Community people can get together to share practices and good management habits among each other.”

Myers, who calls himself a small producer raising on average eight head, sees communicating with others in the industry as multi-advantageous.

“There is someone who has been raising cattle for 15, 16 years. I don’t know that person but I would like to know that person and see what he is doing,” he said.

Besides helping each producer, the organization as a whole could also do outreach to the community.

“We could do good things for the community like scholarships,” Myers said. “We want to promote selling our cattle, kind of promote what we have to offer in Lawrence County.”