- Ten outstanding students pursuing careers in the beef industry have each been awarded a $1,500 scholarship provided by the CME Group and the National Cattlemen’s Foundation. Each scholarship winner wrote a 750-word essay that identified key issues confronting the beef industry, and suggested possible ways of dealing with those issues. The overall scholarship winner, Rebecca Tokach of Manhattan, Kan., was awarded an all-expense-paid trip to the 2008 Cattle Industry Annual Convention and Trade Show in Reno, where she will be recognized during the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Awards Program Lunch on Feb. 9. Tokach is a junior at Kansas State University in Manhattan.
- Gov. Matt Blunt continued to build on his reputation as a champion for renewable fuels by announcing his support for a statewide 5 percent biodiesel (B-5) standard in his State of the State address to the Missouri General Assembly. The biodiesel standard would provide that all diesel fuel sold in the State of Missouri shall contain a 5 percent blend of biodiesel when it is the same price or less than conventional diesel fuel. In addition to his support of the historic B-5 standard, Blunt has provided unwavering support for the state’s farmer-owned biodiesel industry by fully funding the Missouri Biodiesel Producer Incentive Fund every year he has been in office.
- KY-Radio host and agriculture writer Trent Loos and his burning passion to make a difference in animal agriculture will be front and center when he serves as the featured evening banquet speaker at the National Institute for Animal Agriculture’s annual meeting, Tuesday, April 1, in Indianapolis, Ind. Loos is a farmer/rancher whose passionate desire to stand up for agriculture became public knowledge in January 2001 when he launched “Loos Tales” on KMZU Radio in Carrolton, Mo. In seven short years, Trent’s radio career has expanded to include a second program, “The Truth Be Told,” with his programs now airing on more than 100 radio stations across the Midwest.
