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In this episode of the Patio Pondering Podcast, Jim sits down with Brian McFarland, a longtime leader in the beef packing industry and a cattle producer with experience across multiple parts of the beef supply chain.

Jim and Brian first met years ago in graduate school at Kansas State, but their conversation quickly moves beyond old memories into the realities facing the beef industry today.

They discuss the shrinking U.S. cow herd, rising beef demand, and the economic challenges of rebuilding cattle numbers. Brian shares insights from his years inside packing plants at companies like Tyson, IBP, and JBS, explaining the major advances in food safety that have occurred over the past three decades.

Along the way the conversation wanders—as good agricultural conversations often do—into topics like cooking meat correctly, the rise of meat thermometers, raw milk debates, veterinary shortages, and even long-range rifles and bow hunting.

It’s a wide-ranging discussion that highlights how complex modern agriculture really is—and how much work happens behind the scenes to safely put food on the plate.

Topics include:

• Why the U.S. cow herd may take years to rebuild
 • The economics of cattle vs. crop farming
 • Beef-on-dairy genetics and how it changed the industry
 • The hidden food-safety systems inside modern packing plants
 • Why cooking meat properly matters more than people think
 • Challenges facing veterinary medicine in agriculture
 • Technology shaping agriculture’s future

Plus Brian answers the Patio Pondering Five Questions, sharing lessons about work ethic, innovation, and the future of agriculture.

Brian can be found on LinkedIn at:
linkedin.com/in/thebrianmcfarlane

His cold weather gear company can be found at:
https://shivershield.com/