For immediate release: April 10, 2008

For more information, contact:

Wade Moser, NDSA executive vice president: (701) 223-2522

Darryl Howard, NDSA chief brand inspector: (701) 223-2522

Julie Schaff Ellingson, NDSA communications director: (701) 223-2522

Cody Cadwell, NDSA west river fieldman: (701) 439-0404

Cadwell named new fieldman

Cody Cadwell of McLeod, N.D., has accepted the North Dakota Stockmen’s Association’s (NDSA) west river fieldman position. He replaces Blaine Northrop, formerly of Grassy Butte, N.D., who is the new agriculture law enforcement division administrator for the State of Nevada.

“It’s always difficult to bid farewell to a good employee like Blaine,” said NDSA Executive Vice President Wade Moser, “but we wish him the best with his new position and welcome Cody to his. I know Cody will serve North Dakota producers well.”

As the west river fieldman, Cadwell will be responsible for brand and feedlot inspections, traffic checks of livestock haulers and livestock case investigations and will work closely with states attorneys and county sheriffs when he begins on May 1. He will begin his training at the Law Enforcement Academy to become a licensed peace officer, a prerequisite for the job, in January. Fred Frederikson of Carrington, N.D., is Cadwell’s counterpart in eastern North Dakota.

Cadwell has been an NDSA market inspector at Central Livestock Auction (CLA) in West Fargo, N.D., for nearly 13 years. “I started working there just two days after high school graduation,” he recalled. Cadwell spent 12 of those years working under his grandfather, Ken Kensinger, who retired after a 50-year inspection career, before becoming the CLA inspector-in-charge last year.

Cadwell said he is eager to begin his new job. “Positions like these don’t come up that often, so I decided to take advantage of the opportunity and apply,” he said. “My goal is, hopefully, to fill Blaine’s shoes, but he left awfully big prints behind.”

Northrop worked for the NDSA for more than 15 years. He started in 1992 as a part-time inspector at the Dickinson, N.D., auction markets. He was promoted to inspector-in-charge there in 1994 and then to west river fieldman in 1995. He served as president of the Western States Brand Conference in 2007. In his new position, Northrop oversees the agricultural law enforcement in Nevada and supervises 12 fieldmen and approximately 100 inspectors.

“I learned a lot from Blaine over the years and am glad that our paths will continue to cross as we work together in national trade organizations, such as the International Livestock Identification Association,” said NDSA Chief Brand Inspector Darryl Howard.

Cadwell will not only take over Northrop’s position, but his address too. He plans to live in Northrop’s former home until he, his wife, Kari, their daughter, Callie, and a soon-to-be new baby establish permanent residence in his western territory.

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