Other interests to Eddie include hunting wild turkey, which he enjoys watching more than shooting. “It’s my own personal rule”, he says, “ that I will not kill anything I won’t eat, and I don’t eat wild turkey.”

Eddie would go fishing more if he had the time, and an occasional trip to visit his daughter in Montgomery lures him to cast a line toward the bigger bass stocked there in the family’s lake. But with the daily concerns in the business of livestock, he hardly gets to spend much time on the water.

For Eddie, timber and cattle make for a long day, which typically begins at six- thirty and winds down around nine. He drives his own log truck out to get the timber crew started before checking on his cows. After the wood is loaded, Eddie drives to a receiving point. On the return trip he checks on the cattle again, “doctors” any sick or injured animal and feeds the horses; by then its time to have dinner somewhere and go home. Admitting he is not much of a cook, he eats out a lot in local restaurants.

Strict quotas and imports have had some negative effects on farmers and small businessmen. The upside has been the beef industry have been doing well.
Eddie is a member of the National Federation of Independent Businesses, a member of the Alabama Loggers Council and has served on the Forestry Political Action Committee. A member of the Alabama Cattleman’s Association, he owns Charolais, Angus and Brahman. With a goodly number of bulls, he has 250 “mama” cows.

He’s not away from home often, only occasionally going on a vacation with his grandchildren or attending the NTCA Convention for MonCre, which he enjoys.

Eddie is a senior member of the MonCre board of directors, having been elected in 1993. He was recently re-elected to fill another three-year term.

His views on the future of MonCre are positive ones, and he credits progress and well being to professional MonCre management and focused board members. “I feel fortunate to be on a board with ‘level headed’ and intelligent people. We work well together,” Eddie remarked. “The management stays on top of everything new in the business. That is why we are where we are.”

“MonCre will be around for a long time providing the service that we have here” he continued. “Where we go is anybody’s guess. With Internet and fiber optics, it’s unlimited as to what we can offer.”

With board members like Eddie Russell, you can expect no less.