What does chicken do for you?

There's something I love about agriculture. Obviously. But often I have trouble describing it. I was once asked to give a presentation on 'What makes me tick?'. I like giving presentations. Those that know me, will understand me when I say that I can and will talk. But this one had me stumped. How do I expand 'well, agriculture, of course' and put it into a 15 minute presentation? Well I managed to put pen to paper and thought of all the times that something excited me about the industry and made me buzz. It was almost strange...I mean there's the obvious things, the lifestyle, the fresh air, the satisfaction and rewards from raising animals, but as I learnt, it's the small things that really make me tick. Here's one of them.

Today, I attended my beef systems class at KSU where we had a guest speaker, Hal Sankey, Vice President of Cargill Meat Solutions Beef Corporation. Mr Sankey gave us an insight into the company background as well as his own- he sat in the same seats as what my classmates and I were sitting in today. He went on to talk about how his parents were cattle producers and how they operated as a business. Then, we looked at the next stage of the production line and we did some calculations and went through some figures to find out just how limited the boundaries can be for cattle buyers buying cattle for slaughter. Based on some current figures, we found the importance of the carcass by-products, namely hides, to the packing plants.

Mr Hal Sankey, Vice President of Cargill Meat Solutions Corporation came to KSU to talk about beef pricing in our Beef Systems class. 

I guess what really made me excited was seeing the challenge that Mr Sankey has when buying cattle and selling beef. There is a fine line between making a profit or running at a loss. There was some great discussion about supply and demand as well as the option for packers to sell by-products. There were examples where packers could be breaking even on the beef but making dollars on the sales of by-products such as hides. Today, the value of hides have increased as countries become more affluent and purchase luxury items, such as cars with leather seats. We learnt that this has mainly been driven by China. Here's something though that I had never given a thought and I am pleased that I have learnt this: For every animal slaughtered, they can vary in size, weight, retail yield etc when talking about pounds of beef, but for every animal slaughtered, there is only one hide. Yes, the size and quality can vary, however, if there are 200,000 animals killed for example, there is going to be 200,000 hides. So this influences the supply and demand for these hides and hence the value that they are worth. Lower supply or higher demand for these hides, then make the beef processing all the more worth the while. Then think about how that can influence the price of cattle at the sale yards. Quite interesting really.

Anyway, so after some more discussion about these by-products, we moved on to the topic of other proteins. An interesting, but very thought provoking question was raised: What does chicken do for your family? At first I couldn't think of anything too much (other than the obvious that it provides nutrients for our bodies). Does poultry, for example, provide you with leather car seats and shoes for your children? It was this that really hit home to me for some reason. Suddenly I became excited and pleased that I am in the beef industry. It really is something to think about. Perhaps you'll think about it the next time you are dining out!

For me, this discussion really made me tick and made me think 'Yes. I am so proud to be in the beef industry and involved in agriculture.' Feel free to share what it is about agriculture, especially the beef industry, that makes you tick!!

NCBA Convention: The #followmetotennessee experience

Last week was by far my favourite since being here in the States. Last Monday, a crew of 35 K-State Collegiate Cattlemen and Cattlewomen boarded a bus, bound for the 12 hour drive to Nashville, Tennessee. There we attended the National Cattlemen's Beef Association Convention and Trade show, which was held from February 4th - 7th. The event attracted almost 8000 people, with 300 exhibitors in the trade show, that stretched across 5.7 acres. The convention included committee meetings, general information sessions as well as interactive question and answer sessions. Some of the events that I attended included:

• CattleFax 2014 U.S. global protein & grain outlook seminar
• General sessions
• Outlook session on the the architecture of consumer demand
• Collegiate leadership round table
• NCBA Young Producers Council meeting

In addition to this, there were plenty of opportunities to network and socialise, particularly with the Cowboys Night at the Opry, which featured Little Big Town, Diamond Rio, Sarah Darling and more.

The General sessions were among my favourite. These sessions included speakers Captain Richard Phillips and Archie Manning, who provided great inspiration as they talked about leadership and how they came to be leaders themselves. Captain Phillips' story was incredible - he was captain of the Maersk Alabama off the coast of Somalia, when he was attacked by pirates and stuck in a lifeboat with them for days. Not only was his story courageous, but his message to us was that you just never know how strong you are until you are put into a position that presents risk and challenge. This had a strong connection as it is linked to not only farming families but challenges that the agricultural industry my face as a whole. From a different field again, Archie Manning, spoke about the leadership lessons that he had learned as 'a player, a businessman, and a father'. Archie is a 14-year veteran quarterback and has two Superbowl champion quarterback sons. This presentation was very personal and inspiring. Archie told us about his life and how he had to just step up and be a leader.

Captain Richard Philips sent a very strong message about the unknown strength within when in a leadership role. 

On the topic of leadership, the Peterson Farm Bros, famous for their farming parodies our proudly from Kansas State and were there to perform some of their songs for us. We were shown that this is an example of just how people of my generation are able to take a new direction in agricultural leadership. It really was fantastic to see that there was such great recognition given to those three young men. They have had millions of hits on YouTube for their parodies. Here is a link to Chore (Roar Parody), one of their parodies that they performed for us at the General Session: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toyN81wZzLw

The Peterson Farm Bros did a great job entertaining the audience as well as demonstrated the fantastic job they are doing as young leaders in the agricultural industry. 

The CattleFax Outlook was very interesting. There were many keynote speakers who gave presentations on outlooks for the economy, weather, protein and grain for 2014 for the U.S. and their competitors. Some of the key notes that I took away from this was for the year 2014:

• strong inflation of beef in China as both a luxury and key item
• Australia's export of ground beef to China to keep tightening America's supply to China
• reduced domestic beef production
• 78 million more global consumers
• the Chinese 'middle' class of 300 million will increase to 640 million in the next 6 years
• the US and South America should be set for a reasonably good year weather wise, while unfortunately El Nino will continue to influence the Australian weather pattern

The Collegiate Leadership Round Table was a great event to attend. It included leaders such as John Stika, President of Certified Angus Beef, Forrest Roberts, CEO of NCBA, Craig Huffines, Executive Vice President of the Hereford Association and Dr. Molly McAdams, a guest speaker at NCBA who has had more than 20 years experience in research, brand marketing and product development. This was an interactive session that enabled us to answer questions about strategies that we can use to be good leaders and also have open discussion about leadership experiences.

University students deep in discussion at the round table with Dr. Molly McAdams. 

The Young Producers Council meeting featured guest speaker Luke Snyder, who spoke about his life and career as a professional bull rider and how he worked to win the 2001 PBR Rookie of the Year and then the Last Cowboy Standing title in 2011. There was a lot of focus on his key drivers for motivation, as well as keeping a balance to his personal life and career as a bull rider. He also spoke about how important role models were when he started and how important they are now that he has finished bull riding.

Professional bull rider, Luke Snyder presenting at the Young Producers Council meeting. 

The trade show covered every aspect of the beef industry one could possibly think of. One of the many booths that I stopped to visit was the Certified Angus Beef booth, where there were demonstrations on breaking up beef carcasses. In addition to this, there were Certified Angus Beef appetizers around the whole trade show for everyone to sample. I was able to meet John Stika, the President of Certified Angus Beef and some of the people that work there.

Breaking up beef carcasses attracted many visitors to stop by and ask questions about different beef cuts. 

As you can see, it was a great week in Nashville and I must thank the Collegiate Cattlewomen from Kansas State University for hosting me on the trip. These women all have an interest in agriculture and in particular the welfare of the beef industry. They work together as a group to 'agvocate' through promotion of beef products throughout the state.

The Kansas State Collegiate Cattlewomen stop to get a photo with the Peterson Farm Bros, from Kansas also.
Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Forsyth.

The American life!

My second week here at Kansas State University has been a blast. This week I certainly got a taste of the American life. However, there was a hint of 'Aussie' in there.  The Australian Intercollegiate Meat Judging team arrived in Manhattan, Kansas for dinner and training with the American Intercollegiate Meat Judging team. I was lucky enough to join them and it was so good to meet new people interested in the meat industry as well as hear some familiar Aussie accents!!

Two of the members from the Australian Intercollegiate Meat Judging team, Laura Kemmis (Charles Sturt University) and Fred Broughton (University of New England) and myself dining at a Mexican restaurant in Manhattan with the American Intercollegiate Meat Judging team. 

Tuesday night, I attended a mens basketball game- Kansas State University vs. Texas Tech University. I was absolutely blown away at the support the fellow students had for their team and watched the K-State team win that night! The lengths that they went to included a band, cheerleaders, commercials, contests and chants...the atmosphere was incredible!

Getting ready to watch the basketball game, K-State vs. Texas Tech.

This week the stand out of my classes was in livestock sales management. We had a guest speaker, Mr Kent Jaecke, who graduated from K-State University with an animal science degree. He took the same class as I am taking now and told us how he got to be where he is with his business today. His business, Focus Marketing Group, works 100 sales annually and markets purebred, commercial and show cattle. He told us how he has had to move with the times and diverge from traditional sales by public auction and turn to the internet. He has found a great market for selling cattle online and offers a service to cover all marketing associated with a sale. Although he quoted Mr. Stanley Stout, 'that there was no better way to tell the true value of an animal than by putting it up for public auction', he has found now that with the shift in producers reducing their cattle numbers in align with an ageing farming community, that holding a public auction is not viable for some producers. So, in turning to the internet, he has found that producers can market and sell their cattle online without the cost of holding a public auction. Mr Jaecke, will be back at K-State university next week to demonstrate the services of Focus Marketing Group, when the K-State cattle will be prepared for the catalogue for their annual bull and female sale in March.

Kent Jaecke, Focus Marketing Group, giving the livestock sales management class an inspiring presentation about his career in the livestock industry. 

Next week I am heading off to Nashville, Tennessee with the Collegiate Cattlemen and Cattlewomen from Kansas State University to attend the National Cattlemen's Beef Association Convention and Trade show. This event is the oldest and largest convention for the cattle business so I am very excited to be attending.