[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 111 (Tuesday, July 30, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6062-S6063]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    RECOGNIZING JW AND THEA NUCKOLLS

  Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I will soon be attending the 101st 
Wyoming State Fair. During the Ag Hall of Fame Picnic, Senator Enzi and 
I will have the honor of recognizing Jw and Thea Nuckolls as they are 
inducted into the Wyoming Agriculture Hall of Fame for 2013. I cannot 
think of two people more deserving of this recognition.
  The Nuckolls family came to Wyoming from Virginia in the early 1900s. 
Jw's parents sold 100 horses in order to purchase the original ranch in 
1917. In 1943, the family entered the sheep business by purchasing 500 
head of sheep to stock the ranch. Jw was only 12 years old when he 
began trailing ewes from Moorcroft, where the sheep were bought, to the 
family ranch 26 miles away.
  Jw returned to the ranch after graduating from the University of 
Wyoming. He was in the market for more sheep, when he met his future 
wife, Thea. He purchased part of her family's Corriedale flock. The 
future couple subsequently ran into each other again at the Wyoming 
State Fair in 1958 and were married the following year. How fitting it 
is for them to be honored together in the same place where their lives 
with one another began 55 years ago.
  Over the past five decades, Jw and Thea have built a strong, 
diversified ranching operation. Thea brought registered Angus cows into 
the family and together she and Jw have built herds of high quality 
cattle and sheep. Their contributions to agriculture go far beyond 
their own operation, however. Jw

[[Page S6063]]

and Thea helped to start the Mountain States Lamb Cooperative and 
Center of the Nation Wool Cooperative which serves 1,700 participants 
and markets approximately 5 million pounds of wool each year, resulting 
in gross sales of nearly $10 million. Jw continues to serve as a board 
member to this day. In addition to the cooperative, Jw has also been 
active in Wyoming Stock Growers Association, Wyoming Farm Bureau, and 
the Wyoming Wool Growers Association. Thea has served many years as a 
4-H club leader, serves on the Wyoming Cattle Women's Association, 
Wyoming Wool Growers Auxiliary, and Crook County Farm Bureau.
  Jw and Thea have been stalwart representatives of the agriculture 
industry in every way. Wyoming Stock Growers Association executive vice 
president Jim Magagna has said that the sheep industry is stronger 
because of Jw and Thea's involvement. This couple embodies what Wyoming 
is all about. Honesty, integrity, and hard work are second nature to 
them. Their willingness to share their knowledge and experience with 
others ensures that the sheep industry and agriculture in general will 
continue to be strong in both Wyoming and America for years to come. I 
would like to extend my congratulations to Jw and Thea and thank them 
for their dedication to the Wyoming way of life.

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