Brad Lillie, Sarah Pope, and Bill MacFarlane attended the North American Game Bird Association (NAGA) convention Jan 15-17 2018 in Seattle, Washington. MacFarlane Pheasants has been involved with NAGA for two generations so they never miss an opportunity to attend and participate. There were 70 attendees at the convention, this year, held at the Renaissance Hotel in Seattle. Many opportunities were provided for guests to network with others in the game bird business.
Brad, Sarah, and Bill came back from the convention with new information from experts in the business and motivation to try out some new ideas. It is always encouraging to be with like-minded people. The NAGA mission is “to protect, promote, and sustain a positive environment for game bird producers and hunting preserve operators.” They focus on preserving wildlife in rural America, raising public awareness, and environmental management. The NAGA mission is truly a source of pride for all game bird operators.
Preventing disease in game bird populations is also a major mission of NAGA and so to honor that goal there was an excellent sectional on educating employees on biosecurity. Brian Beavers spoke about documenting biosecurity measures. John Metzer talked about implementing biosecurity plans and MacFarlane’s Sarah Pope spoke to the group about training employees regarding procedures for biosecurity.
Brad Lillie of MacFarlane Pheasants was also a speaker for the event. He shared his thoughts on where he sees the game bird industry in the short and long term. Brad thinks baby boomers will fuel the industry in the short run and that hunter interest will remain engaged. The economy could be either a plus or minus feature for the industry because the economy is so hard to predict. Brad expects less “public” opportunity for hunting to exist but says the opportunity for private hunting enterprises will be good! In the long run, there are mostly questions. Will there be a new generation of hunters and will hunter interest remain?
We encourage you to take a look at the NAGA website for more thoughts about game birds and taking care them and our environment.
