Yesterday I had lunch with 5000 head of cattle – and about 60 people.

It was the season kick-off of Missouri’s Lunch and Learn program, a summer series sponsored by all the ag groups in the state where they invite local community leaders to visit agricultural operations. The first event for this summer was held at Circle A Ranch in Huntsville, MO. The main hosts for this event were one of our very best and first clients, the Missouri Beef Industry Council. (Check out their blog here.)

What was especially unique about this event was that it was held in the middle of a covered feedlot – one of only three feedlots in the state of Missouri. You’d think it would be a little, well – smelly – to say the least. But, it was not at all. And there were NO FLIES! It was just as pleasant as having lunch in a park pavilion – just a really huge one with a bunch of cattle in it.

The secret? Sawdust, according to Dave Gust, who owns the operation. “The sawdust acts sort of like kitty litter and it absorbs the ammonia, which is the smell,” he said. “We change it every two weeks and then we compost it and make it into fertilizer – turns into black dirt.”

The guys in the picture are Dave on the left and ranch manager Mark Akin.
Listen to an interview with Dave here: lunch-learn-interview.mp3