Already in the chute for branding, the calf is then vaccinated against bovine respiratory disease and ear tagged for identification. From left, Brandy Luton Branquinho, Helen Chamberlin Heyden, and Nancy Cornelius Williams.

Branding - a tradition that originated in the old west and still practiced by today's ranchers. Nancy Cornelius Williams (left) and Brandy Luton Branquinho mark calves with the Rancho San Juan brand. Williams is a third generation Cattlewoman and Branquinho's family has raised cattle here since the mid- 1800's.

The American Cattlewomen evolved in 1939 in Douglas, Arizona when a ranch wife named Mattie Cowan harnessed the power of her fellow women to promote beef. The organization became popular, spreading throughout the cattle country, known until 1962 as the Cow Belles. The Santa Barbara County chapter, which operates on national, state and county levels, has been in action since March 22, 1952. Mattie Cowan's initial goal, to promote beef through education, remains the Cattlewomen's mission statement. Founded as the Cow Belles in Santa Barbara County by Kathy Brown in the 1950's, to support their husbands, the Cattlemen, the Cattlewomen are the promotional/educational end of their counterpart organization, though in some counties the Cattlemen and Cattlewomen have merged to form one organization.

Cattlewomen need not own cattle to join the organization. One must simply have an interest in the beef industry, pay the $20 a year dues, and attend meetings held five times a year. This year the Cattlewomen have presented Beef Demos at Nielsen's market (Costco shoppers may have already tasted the grilled tri tip that the Cattlewomen offered in an in-store promo, along with recipes and nutritional information).

They also make a strong presence at the County Fair, the Santa Barbara County Fiesta; they promote beef education in the schools, offer scholarships to graduating high school seniors who have had beef projects in 4H or FFA and support an annual Beef Ambassador position for students. Once, scholarship recipients had to be planning a career in agriculture, but this is now changed; future kindergarten teachers may also apply.

"Beef," says Jo An Jessup, the president of the Santa Barbara County Cattlewomen's chapter, "is getting kicked around these days. It's more important than ever now that our members get together and fight for it."

Brandy Luton Branquinho and her cattle rancher/dry farmer husband John, former president of the Cattlemen's Association, live on Rancho San Juan, the Los Alamos ranch where Branquinho grew up working cattle, youngest of six children. Cattle ranching is part of Branquinho's family legacy; Rancho San Juan was owned by her great grandmother Katherine Den Bell. In the late 1800's, the family lost the ranch, then in 1934, Branquinho's grandmother Caroline Bell Luton and her son William Luton, bought it back and Branquinho's parents built the sprawling adobe home where Branquinho and her husband live.

Branquinho can't remember a time when the Cattlewomen's Association was not a part of her life. Her mother, Nancy Dickenson Luton, was an active member and treasurer until she died in 1983. Branquinho, who became an official Cattlewoman in 1972, the year she got married, is active in promoting beef at Cattlewomen events. "We want to let people know about our product, how good it is and to fight the myth that beef isn't healthy."

Has membership in the Cattlewomen's Association had an impact on the roles women play in the ranching industry? "I think ranching women have always played a crucial role," says Branquinho. "In my case, I'm a pivotal part of the operation, I'm out there roping and branding and vaccinating. Some women stay in the house and cook, but even the women who don't rope and ride do their share. They do the books, they keep the men fed. And that's important, because if the men aren't well fed, they don't work very well."

Helen Chamberlin Heyden was raised on the Chamberlin ranch that her late father Ted Chamberlin bought in 1929, and named Rancho Los Portreros when he married Ailie van Loben Sels in 1935. Rancho Los Portreros is part of the original Rancho Corral de Quati Mexican land grant on Foxen Canyon Road.

The Chamberlin family's involvement in ranching goes back generations; Heyden's great grandfather Llewellyn Bixby drove sheep and cattle from Quincy, Illinois to San Juan Bautista California in 1853, where he settled. Heyden has cousins who still farm the Sacramento Delta area, where her great grandfather on her mother's side constructed levees in the area.

Today the Chamberlin Ranch raises crossbred cattle, a mixture of beef breeds.

They have their own cow herd and also purchase calves, which are raised on grass and sold as yearlings to a feed lot.

Cattlewomen are a part of Heyden's heritage. Her mother was an active member, and Heyden has served as director of the local Cattlewomen for the past two years. "Our local organization has officers and a board of directors, and my particular jobs as director are as a liaison to the Santa Barbara County Cattlemen's Association, who appointed me to be a director of their organization also, and I am the Trail Ride chair, which means I organize and lead the trail rides several times a year." The trail rides, Heyden adds, are a big membership draw.

To maximize the efficiency and diversity of the organization she directs, Heyden has joined both the San Luis Obispo Cattlewomen and the Santa Maria Chapter of California Women in Agriculture, "in order to see what they are doing and to bring some new ideas into our organization." She and other Cattle-women are kept busy attending meetings held throughout the county where decisions are made regarding land use. It's the new rules and regulations that greatly affect cattle ranching&emdash; oak tree regulations, grading ordanances and endangered species acts among them, that sometimes create havoc in the cattle ranching world through the severity of their restrictions. Heyden, appointed by Gail Marshall, also serves as a member of the General Plan Advisotry Committee for the Valley, where she works to protect cattle ranching interests.

Heyden sees a wealth of new opportunities for women in agriculture today. "Cal Poly started accepting women students in the late 1950's, but the first female Agriculture graduates had a hard time finding jobs. I think that has opened up now, as it has for women veterinarians. The beef trade magazines are full of articles written by women many of whom are PhD's in their fields; others who are out in the workforce." She also notes that Nancy Crawford-Hall from San Lucas Ranch is the current president of the Santa Barbara County Cattlemen.

Nancy Cornelius Williams is a former Cattlewomen president descended from two former presidents; her grandmother Ora Cornelius presided over the Cow Belles in 1953. Her mother Rosalie Cornelius served as president, and Williams herself was elected president twice, in 1977 and 1985. Considering the presidential history of her family, it's no surprise that the Tip Top ranch, the Cornelius family's vacation home, became the western white house when it was purchased by former President Reagan.

"In my grandmother's day," says Williams, "the Cow Belles were there to establish better public relations for the beef industry, as well as assist the Santa Barbara Cattlemen's Association." Those objectives have not changed. The name change was made, "because we thought it sounded more professional," says Williams.

Cattle ranching "is our heritage," says Williams. "It's our way of life, and we're trying to preserve it, from one generation to the next." Williams does her part to preserve her heritage, as a director who helps with sale items. She and fellow Cattlewoman Karen Langley design promotional items such as T-shirts, sweatshirts, aprons, gift baskets, hats and visors to sell at fairs. Williams also notes the success of radio ads on KUHL 1440 AM which promote beef as an ideal meal to beat the time crunch. "It's so easy to prepare," says Williams, 'and it has all the right nutrients."

Cindy Norlin is one of the younger members of the Cattlewomen. The Santa Ynez Valley High graduate did not grow up on a ranch but she did ride and show horses and raised pigs in 4H. She is not a legacy member, but many of her friends, including Helen Heyden and Nancy Williams belong, and last year, at their encouragement, she joined. Her husband Willy Norlin runs Rancho Jonata for Jim Buell. "I'd always thought of the Cattlewomen's Association as a club for people who own their own cattle," says Norlin. "But Helen and Nancy said that because I was working with cattle, I was qualified for membership."

Norlin is in charge of publicity, which means getting the B-word out on the KUHL radio ads, and working with the California Women in Agriculture to put beef in the minds and menus of more Americans. Norlin is also excited about a local promotion at Nielsen's market, in which the Cattlewomen's logo will appear on grocery bags with the slogan "Beef: It's What's For Dinner." Norlin, who has a day job at the Buellton Chamber of Commerce and Visitor's Bureau, enjoys the camaraderie of the Cattlewomen's meetings. "There's a good mix of people," she observes, "who all share one strong common interest in beef. It's so much more than a food. It's a lifestyle. And because we all share that lifestyle, we all share that common bond. And we share a lot of laughs. Helen tells great jokes."

Nancy Giorgi Stine's Nojoqui Ranch has been operated by her family since 1896. "My grandfather, Natale Giorgi, had a dairy as well as the various supportive crops to complete the operation," she recalls. He also had a small vineyard for personal use, arguably one of the area's very first. "Back then," says Stine, "ranches were quite self-contained, because supplies were hard to come by. Before grandfather was able to get electricity at the ranch, he used a Delco generator.

Beef ranching replaced dairy farming as the business of Nojoqui Ranch and when Natale Giorgi died in 1941, the ranch was divided among his children. Nojoqui Falls, which was on the original ranch, is now leased to the county for the park. This part of the ranch is now called Nojoqui Falls Ranch and is operated by Stine's cousin, Bill Giorgi, while Stine and her husband Steve Stine run the other section of the ranch, known as Nojoqui Ranch, which they currently lease out for beef cattle and farming.

Stine grew up on the family ranch, learning to ride horses and bale hay, which "was a 'before school' chore," in her childhood.

"Women's roles have changed over the years, and so have women's organizations," Stine notes. "Women today are much more visibly involved in all aspects of ranching although I've always found ranch women to be equal partners with men in this business."

As ranch land becomes increasingly scarce and ranching becomes a far more expensive enterprise, it is more important than ever, says Stine, "for us to be well read and informed on what is going on in our communities and government. Agriculture production is increasingly misunderstood and it is imperative that its message gets out and is understood."