Livestock Men of the
Year awards announced
Julia
Hollister
Freelance Writer
April 7,
2006
An agricultural science teacher and
a fourth generation rancher each received the
prestigious Livestock Man of the Year award at the
Grand National Rodeo in San Francisco this week.
Jim Coelho of Fremont received the 2005 award and
Mike Byrne of Tulelake (Siskiyou County) received
the 2006 honor.
“The award began in 1952,” said Walter Haub, CEO
of the Cow Palace in San Francisco. “The selection
committee is made up of past recipients and
candidates are nominated by former Livestock Man
of the Year winners.”
The two years’ awards were combined because there
was no Grand National Rodeo last year.
Coelho and Byrne will each receive a silver tray
and their pictures will be placed in the Cow
Palace’s Hall of Fame. The 61st annual Grand
National Rodeo runs through April 15.
Born in San Jose, Coelho was raised on a small,
diversified crop and livestock ranch. He later
attended the University of California-Davis, Cal
Poly in San Luis Obispo and Cal State Hayward. He
taught agricultural sciences and agricultural
business management at Livermore High School and
Chabot College for more than 25 years before
retiring from teaching in the 1908s.
His entry into the beef cattle business began in
the 1960s and the operation expanded into
commercial cow-calf and stocker operations in the
70s. He purchased irrigated pasture and cow-crop
ranches in the Dixon-Davis areas as his operation
continued to grow.
Coelho is a member of the Alameda County Fair
board of directors and has had leadership roles in
the Alameda County Farm Bureau, the Sierra Bay
Credit Union and the Alameda-Contra Costa County
Cattlemen’s Association.
He is also the past chairman of Cattle-Fax, the
national market organization for cattlemen.
“It is his years of dedication to the teaching
profession that has the most affect on so many
young people who have shown in junior livestock
shows and went on to career in this vital
industry,” the award stated.
Byrne is a fourth generation cattle rancher who
manages a family commercial cow-calf operation in
the Klamath Basin of Northern California and
Southern Oregon on the same lands the family has
grazed for over 175 years.
He has been recognized for his significant
communication, outreach and leadership effort to
conserving the basin area.
He lobbies in Washington D.C. and on state and
local levels on issues that he feels are critical
to the livestock industry and western lifestyle.
For his work in resolving water and endangered
species issues in the Klamath Basin, Byrne
received the “2004 Excellence in Conservation
Award” by the U.S. Department of Agriculture
National Resources Conservation Service.
