A new executive director is coming to the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association.

Tammy Dennee was hired Aug. 13 to lead the industry lobbying group, representing 1,800 rancher members across the state. She replaces Jerome Rosa, who left in July to take over as head of the Arizona Cattle Growers Association.

While Dennee is officially joining the OCA, she won’t have to go far. For the last five years, she has been the legislative director of the Oregon Dairy Farmers Association, which shares an office in Salem with the cattlemen’s association.

That means Dennee will be moving all of 5 feet — just to the other side of the wall — when she begins her new job Oct. 1.

OCA President and Harney County rancher Tom Sharp said Dennee is “exceptionally qualified” for the position, adding that the group’s hiring committee was impressed with her years of experience working on behalf of agriculture at the Oregon Capitol.

“I have complete confidence Tammy will do great work on behalf of our mission and membership,” Sharp said in a statement.

Dennee, 58, is a lifelong Oregonian, born in Hood River and raised in The Dalles. For a while in Hood River, Dennee said her grandparents had a small farm with cows, horses, chickens and a giant garden that, in the eyes of a child, seemed to stretch for blocks.

Dennee’s paternal grandfather was also a herdsman for a dairy farm near Donald. One summer, she remembers working on a ranch near Grass Valley in rural Sherman County, where she was introduced to the physical strenuous job of “bucking,” or stacking, hay bales by hand. Those experiences, she said, helped her to develop a strong connection with agriculture.

“I just have such an appreciation for the hard work these men and women dedicate themselves to every single day,” Dennee said.

Before going to work for the Dairy Farmers Association, Dennee was a top official for the Oregon wheat industry based in Pendleton. She spent 10 years as executive director of the Oregon Wheat Growers League, stepping down in 2010.

Six years ago, Dennee moved to the Willamette Valley with her husband, Michael. They live in Dallas, about 15 miles west of Salem.

This is an excerpt from an article in the Capital Press, a weekly agricultural newspaper published by EO Media Group covering the Pacific Northwest. For more agricultural news, visit www.capitalpress.com.