Alltech Ponders World Without Cows at #CattleCon24

Cindy Zimmerman

“Are we better off in a world without cows?”

It might be a strange question to ask in the middle of a convention with 8,000 cattle industry stakeholders, but it is one that is being asked on the global level when it comes to addressing climate change – and one that two filmmakers sought to answer in a documentary that took them from the heartland of the United States to Kenya, India, Brazil and beyond.

The World Without Cows project was spearheaded by Alltech and CEO Mark Lyons says it was produced by two of their most creative employees but the intended audience is global. “This is a documentary that is not about Alltech at all. It is about our industry, it’s about our producers…and a really balanced conversation,” said Lyons in an interview at CattleCon24.

The documentary includes interviews with experts in agriculture and environmental science, farmers and others to look at the complex and often surprising ways in which cattle impact our world and Lyons says they hope that combined with the website WorldWithoutCows.com it will have an impact. “We want to make a website which is a repository for data (so that) when you have that chat with that person on the plane who said they stopped eating meat because of the environment, this is a place you can send them,” Lyons said.

Learn more in this interview about World Without Cows and how you can get involved.
Interview with Mark Lyons, Alltech 8:24

2024 CattleCon Photo Album

AgWired Animal, Alltech, Animal Agriculture, Audio, Beef, Environment, Livestock

Beef Advocates Recognized During CattleCon24

Cindy Zimmerman

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) selected Alli Fender, owner of Flying F Ranch in San Diego, California, as this year’s top beef advocate.

Fender was honored as the Advocate of the Year for the positive example she sets for other beef advocates by sharing her journey in ways that connect with people outside of her immediate beef community. Through her advocacy efforts, and as a member of the Trailblazers advocacy program, Fender has grown her presence on social media where she works to educate those wanting to learn about the beef industry.

Learn more about her in this interview.
Interview with Ali Fender, California 8:35

Trailblazers Colt Coffee and Paige Schmidt

The Trailblazers program, funded by the Beef Checkoff, was established in 2021 to identify, train, equip and empower the next generation of advocates in the beef community. Over the course of a year-long program, 10 elite advocates develop the necessary tools to facilitate quality conversations and help safeguard the work of producers, ranchers and cattle farmers across the United States.

The 2023 Trailblazers include Tucker Brown, Texas; Colton Coffee, Montana; Sam Cossio, Washington; Allison Fender, California; Rocky Forseth, Montana; Macey Hurst, Missouri; Joe Lowe, Kentucky; Erin Perkins, New York; Paige Schmidt, Kansas; and Ally Spears, Texas. The 2024 Trailblazers cohort will be announced in mid-February.

Listen to interviews with a few more of the 2023 Trailblazers class.

Interview with Tucker Brown, Texas 6:34
Interview with Macey Hurst, Missouri 4:26
Interview with Erin Perkins, New York 3:47
Interview with Paige Schmidt, Kansas and Colt Coffee, Montana 6:50

2024 CattleCon Photo Album

Audio, Beef, Beef Checkoff, Cattle Industry Conference, Livestock, NCBA

CIRB Elects Rinkenberger as 2024-25 Chairwoman

Cindy Zimmerman

Lindsey Rinkenberger, COUNTRY Financial®, is the new chairwoman of the Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau (CIRB) for 2024-2025. She stepped into the role at the conclusion of the CIRB Annual Meeting last week in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Rinkenberger served as the director of commercial agribusiness underwriting operations at COUNTRY Financial® since 2020. Prior to that she held various positions at the company, starting as a crop insurance underwriter in 2002. She graduated from Illinois State University with a Bachelor of Arts in mass communications and media studies.

“I am proud to step into the this new position and I look forward to working with all CIRB members this year as we work to ensure crop insurance remains the most effective and efficient way to deliver risk management to farmers across the country,” Rinkenberger said.

As a CIRB member, she most recently served as vice chair under former Chairman Brian Young of Great American Insurance Group. In addition, Rinkenberger was a participant in the second Emerging Leaders Program sponsored by CIRB.

Listen to an interview with Rinkenberger from last week’s CIRB annual meeting.
Interview with Lindsey Rinkenberger, COUNTRY Financial 3:27

2024 CIRB Annual Meeting Photo Album

Audio, CIRB, Insurance

Agriculture Community Mourns Loss of Bill Northey

Cindy Zimmerman

The tributes began pouring in as soon as the shock wore off Monday when the news broke that former Iowa Agriculture Secretary and USDA Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation Bill Northey had died at the age of 64.

The Agribusiness Association of Iowa (AAI) where Northey served as CEO shared the news of his passing. “The state of Iowa, and all of agriculture, has lost a great leader who has left his mark on future generations and will be greatly missed. Bill was a tireless advocate for agriculture and a beloved leader for the entire AAI staff and organization.”

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) said in a statement that his family has been friends with the Northeys for over two generations.
“Bill Northey was a dear friend and fierce advocate for the family farmer. As Iowa’s Secretary of Agriculture and Undersecretary for Farm Production and Conservation at the United States Department of Agriculture under President Trump, Bill’s commitment to agriculture, biofuels and conservation were unmatched,” said Grassley.

USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack also mentioned his decades-long friendship with Northey and his family in his statement, noting they had just lost his father Wayne Northey recently. “Bill’s colleagues, the Iowa agriculture community, and so many who knew him will feel the absence of such a passionate, knowledgeable and devoted leader for a long time to come,” said Vilsack.

Funeral arrangements are pending and Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has ordered all flags to be at half-staff until Northey is buried.

“Bill was a great leader whose work ethic and passion for Iowa agriculture was unmatched. Iowans and farmers around the country were fortunate to have such a rock-solid advocate and friend,” said Reynolds. “Kevin and I offer our deepest condolences and prayers to Cindy and their family.”

Northey served as Iowa ag secretary for 11 years, from 2007 to 2018, before becoming USDA Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation under President Trump. A fourth-generation farmer, Northey was president of the National Corn Growers Association in the mid-1990s.

obituariess, people, USDA

Animal Ag News 2/5

Carrie Muehling

  • There were 87.2 million head of cattle and calves on U.S. farms as of Jan. 1, 2024, according to the Cattle report published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).
  • The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) announced support for the bipartisan Fair and Accurate Ingredient Representation on Labels Act of 2024 (FAIR Labels Act) introduced by Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS), Rep. Mark Alford (R-MO), Rep. Roger Williams (R-TX), Rep. Don Davis (D-NC), and Rep. Jonathan Jackson (D-IL). The bill would end deceptive labeling practices on fake meat products and ensure that consumers know exactly what they are buying at the grocery store.
  • Megan Eckhardt of New Braunfels, Texas, and Jaime Luke of Stanberry, Missouri, were each awarded a $15,000 W.D. Farr Scholarship by the National Cattlemen’s Foundation (NCF). In addition, 10 students pursuing careers in the beef industry were awarded $1,500 scholarships by the National Cattlemen’s Foundation. The CME Group Beef Industry Scholarship program recognizes talented and thoughtful students emerging as industry leaders.
  • The Dairy Business Association, Wisconsin’s leading dairy advocacy group, elected three directors to its board during the group’s annual meeting today at the 2024 Dairy Strong conference.
  • The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) announced new members of the organization’s Executive Council as well as new directors for the group’s five Industry Segment Boards. IDFA’s Executive Council is composed of executives from across the dairy foods industry and focuses on the business and operations of the association.
  • Rob Shumaker of Great Lakes Cheese received the International Dairy Foods Association’s (IDFA) 2024 Food Safety Leadership Award during IDFA’s Dairy Forum. The award, now in its eighth year, honors an individual, group or organization for demonstrating outstanding leadership directed at enhancing food safety within the dairy products industry.
  • Mikell Fries, Claxton Poultry Farms, Claxton, Georgia, was elected chair of the board of directors of U.S. Poultry & Egg Association (USPOULTRY). The board meeting was held during the International Poultry Expo, part of the 2024 International Production & Processing Expo (IPPE). Fries previously served as vice chair.
  • Tom Hensley, president of Fieldale Farms, was named USPOULTRY’s Workhorse of the Year during the International Poultry Expo, part of the 2024 International Production & Processing Expo (IPPE). The poultry industry’s most prestigious honor is awarded annually in recognition of dedicated service and valuable leadership given to the Association and poultry industry.
  • John Starkey, former president of the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association (USPOULTRY), was honored by USPOULTRY during the 2024 International Production & Processing Expo (IPPE), where he received the Harold E. Ford Lifetime Achievement Award. This prestigious honor was presented to Starkey by Nath Morris, president of USPOULTRY.
  • USPOULTRY and the USPOULTRY Foundation are pleased to recognize Dr. Darrin Karcher as the recipient of the annual Dr. Charles Beard Research Excellence Award. Dr. Karcher is an associate professor of animal sciences at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, and an adjunct associate professor of animal sciences at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan. The award is named in honor of Dr. Charles Beard, former director of the Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory and former vice president of research at USPOULTRY.
  • The 2024 International Production & Processing Expo (IPPE) has the largest trade show floor ever with 621,350 square feet of exhibit space and 1,427 exhibitors. This year, IPPE has more than 31,000 poultry and egg, meat, and animal food industry attendees representing 130+ countries. Sponsored by the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association, American Feed Industry Association and the Meat Institute, IPPE is the world’s largest annual poultry and egg, meat and animal food industry event of its kind.
    • AgWired Animal, Animal Agriculture, Animal Bites

    USDA Officials Visit CIRB Annual Meeting

    Cindy Zimmerman

    RMA Administrator Marcia Bunger and USDA Under Secretary Robert Bonnie

    Robert Bonnie, USDA Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation, and USDA Risk Management Agency Administrator Marcia Bunger visited the Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau (CIRB) Annual Meeting last week in Scottsdale, Arizona, ahead of this week’s National Crop Insurance Services (NCIS) conference.

    Bonnie discussed USDA’s commitment to supporting farmers, ranchers, and private forest landowners through Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities. “We’ve now funded about 135 projects across the country,” said Bonnie. “The idea here is to create markets. The government can play an important role here but if we’re going to be successful, the investment has to come from the private sector.”

    Bunger was happy to brag about the crop insurance program. “I can now say truthfully, we have the best crop insurance in the world,” she said, noting that she attended an international meeting last fall. “It was hosted by the country of Spain with other countries in attendance and while they are each proud of their own crop insurance, they’re looking to us. They acknowledge we have the best in the world.”

    Listen to their joint remarks and interviews with each below:

    Robert Bonnie and Marcia Bunger, USDA 45:58

    Interview with Robert Bonnie, USDA 3:42

    Interview with Marcia Bunger, USDA 2:57

    2024 CIRB Annual Meeting Photo Album

    Audio, CIRB, Insurance, USDA

    CattleFax Forecasts at #CattleCon24

    Cindy Zimmerman

    One of the highlights of the Cattle Industry Convention and NCBA Trade Show is always the CattleFax Outlook Seminar, and there was a full house in Orlando, Florida last week when the experts shared their market and weather analysis.

    Kevin Good, vice president of market analysis at CattleFax, reported that U.S. beef cow herd declined 2% with inventories at 28.2 million head at the beginning of this year. “Though drought conditions did improve in many regions, over a third of the cow herd was affected by drought in 2023, causing limited heifer retention and more liquidation in some regions. This will limit growth to the cow herd near-term,” Good said.

    Cow and bull slaughter is forecast to be 6.5 million head in 2024, down around 800,000 head, from 2023. CattleFax predicted feeder cattle and calf supplies outside of feedyards will be 1 million head smaller than 2023 at 24.1 million head.

    Randy Blach, CattleFax chief executive officer, concluded the session with an overall positive outlook, and noted that the current cattle cycle will be much slower and prolonged compared to the last as heifer retention has not yet started on a nationwide basis. He expects the peak in cattle prices is likely to occur in 2025-2026 and, in the meantime, industry profitability will continue to swing in favor of the cow-calf producer as excess feeding and packing capacity chases a declining supply of feeder cattle and calves.

    Listen to the entire presentation and interviews with Good and Blach below.

    CattleFax Outlook Seminar 1:57:36

    Interview with Randy Blach, CattleFax 8:16

    Interview with Kevin Good, CattleFax 7:00

    2024 CattleCon Photo Album

    Find more content from CattleCon24 in the official virtual newsroom.

    Audio, Beef, Cattle Industry Conference, Livestock, NCBA

    Wyoming Cattleman Becomes New NCBA President

    Cindy Zimmerman

    Wyoming rancher Mark Eisele became the new president of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association during the 2024 Cattle Industry Convention last week in Orlando. Eisele, along with his wife, Trudy, and their children, operate the historic King Ranch near Cheyenne, Wyoming, grazing both public and private lands.

    Eisele’s focus during his time as president is to advocate for opportunities to strengthen the industry for future generations and for producers’ freedom to operate. Protecting property rights and reinforcing the cattle industry’s position as an ally in preserving open spaces and wildlife habitat through managed grazing practices will be a top priority.

    During the year ahead, Eisele also expects to tackle ongoing Farm Bill negotiations as NCBA works to secure reauthorization of animal health provisions, expand the accessibility and funding of risk management and disaster relief programs, and protect voluntary conservation programs. The significant challenge posed by federal government tax policies, particularly the Death Tax, will also be top of mind.

    Interview with new NCBA presdient Mark Eisele 7:37

    NCBA President-elect Buck Wehrbein of Nebraska

    The 2024 NCBA officer team, approved by the NCBA Board of Directors, took office at the end of this year’s convention. Buck Wehrbein of Nebraska was named president-elect and Gene Copenhaver of Virginia was elected vice president. Kim Brackett of Idaho was elected chair of the NCBA Policy Division and Skye Krebs of Oregon was elected policy vice chair. Dan Gattis of Texas and Nancy Jackson of Mississippi were elected as chair and vice chair, respectively, of the NCBA Federation division. Brad Hastings of Texas will continue to serve as NCBA treasurer.

    Interview with NCBA president-elect Buck Wehrbein 7:27

    2024 CattleCon Photo Album

    Find more content from CattleCon24 in the official virtual newsroom.

    Audio, Beef, Cattle Industry Conference, Livestock, NCBA

    #CattleCon24 Regional Winners for Environmental Stewardship

    Cindy Zimmerman

    ESAP Region I winner – Tuck Farms

    The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) recognized six of the nation’s top cattle operations as Environmental Stewardship Award Program (ESAP) regional winners for their environmental conservation efforts during a ceremony at CattleCon24 in Orlando last week.

    And the winners are:
    Region I: Tuck Farms, Moneta, Virginia
    Region II: JB Ranch, Immokalee, Florida
    Region IV: G Bar C Ranch, Rosston, Texas
    Region V: Tower Rock Ranch, LLC, Mansfield, Washington
    Region VI: Hart Ranch, Montague, California
    Region VII: Bartholomay Kattle Kompany, Sheldon, North Dakota
    (There was no winner for Region III this year)

    The regional winners will compete for the national award, which will be presented during NCBA’s Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C., April 17-19, 2024.

    ESAP Region II winner JB Ranch

    Established in 1991 by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association to recognize outstanding land stewards in the cattle industry, the Environmental Stewardship Award Program (ESAP) is generously sponsored by USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Corteva Agriscience, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National Cattlemen’s Foundation.

    We were able to catch two of the regional winners for interviews at CattleCon and you can listen to them here:
    Region I: Tuck Farms, Moneta, Virginia – Keith Tuck
    Interview with ESAP regional winner Keith Tuck, Virginia 3:15
    JB Ranch, Immokalee, Florida – Liesa and Russell Priddy
    Interview with ESAP regional winner Liesa and Russell Priddy, Florida 7:00

    2024 CattleCon Photo Album

    Audio, Cattle Industry Conference, Environment, NCBA

    Industry Ag News 2/2

    Carrie Muehling

  • The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that most farm loan borrowers will be able to make payments to their direct loans online through the Pay My Loan feature on farmers.gov in early February. Pay My Loan is part of a broader effort by USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) to streamline its processes, especially for producers who may have limited time during the planting or harvest seasons to visit a local FSA office; modernize and improve customer service; provide additional customer self-service tools; and expand credit access to assist more producers.
  • Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced two U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) investments designed to support the U.S. specialty crops industry. The launch of the Assisting Specialty Crop Exports (ASCE) initiative will provide $65 million for projects that will help the specialty crop sector increase global exports and expand to new markets. Additionally, USDA is announcing $72.9 million in grant funding available to support the specialty crops industry through the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program.
  • U.S. Representative Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.), Adrian Smith (R-NE), Jim Costa (D-CA) and Jimmy Panetta (D-CA) announced the launch of the bipartisan Congressional Agricultural Trade Caucus to advance and promote policies vital to U.S. agriculture, including boosting agricultural exports, facilitating food and agriculture trade, and knocking down unnecessary trade barriers.
  • The American Farm Bureau Federation and West Virginia Farm Bureau presented Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.V.) with the highest honor the organization gives to sitting members of Congress, the Golden Plow award.
  • Individuals across the country can make a difference in the lives of the more than 945,000 FFA members next month by participating in Give FFA Day during National FFA Week. For the eighth year, during National FFA Week, individuals will have an opportunity to step up and support FFA and agricultural education through Give FFA Day on Thursday, Feb. 22. Funds raised support various programs on local, state and national levels. During the 24 hours of giving, donors can donate to the National FFA and the state FFA associations of their choice.
  • Protect The Harvest, the 501(c)3, not-for-profit, educational and advocacy organization founded in 2011 by Forrest and Charlotte Lucas, has a new look for 2024 with an updated logo, new tagline – A Free and Fed America and revamped website.
  • From research to stories from the field, the 2023 GAP Report explores the opportunities and barriers to farmer access and adoption of proven, appropriate tools for sustainable agricultural productivity growth. The full report is available now.
  • The National Corn Growers Association’s (NCGA) new Fields-of-Corn.com photo contest site attracted new participants as well as seasoned contest alumni, resulting in a record-breaking number of entrants and high-quality photo submissions.
  • Mary Stratton joined Association of Equipment Manufacturers as the Public Relations Manager and will work with the PR team on many things including, serving as the point of contact for media registration for our tradeshows, working with internal staff to schedule and plan media interviews, drafting press releases for distribution.
  • Beekeepers now have a valuable resource at their fingertips with the release of the latest comprehensive Honey Bee Nutrition Guide from the Honey Bee Health Coalition. The guide is a review and manual for supplemental feeding in bee hives, giving beekeepers a simple approach to the complex and nuanced world of honey bee nutrition.
  • Joe Boddiford, peanut farmer from Sylvania, Georgia, was elected chairman of the Georgia Peanut Commission during the January monthly board meeting. This is Boddiford’s third consecutive term serving as chairman. He previously served as chairman in 2000.
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