Let's Talk Beef Podcast

Mark Messer’s family has been farming and ranching in North Dakota for many years.  Today the farm Messer Beaver Creek Ranch of Richardton, ND, which is run by Mark and 3 of his brothers, has gone through many changes over the years.  Mark and his brother's farm many row crops including corn, wheat, sunflowers to just name a few, they recently sold their dairy cows but still have their beef cow herd which is Mark’s specialty.  Mark said that when he was younger he was the one in charge of taking care of the young calves and always enjoyed that.  So when he got older he transitioned into the Ranch’s beef manger it was a great fit.  Today Mark runs the cows as he sees fit, but has lots of support and help from his family all throughout the year. 

Jim Butcher is a 3rd Generation rancher who along with two of his sons, Logan and Brock, run Gateway Simmentals in Lewistown, MT.  Jim grew up on their ranch in central Montana after his father relocated their ranch there from Winifred, MT.  As many ranchers did in those day, they ran Hereford cows, which in the 70’s the began to breed to Simmental bulls and stuck with trough they many different phases of the Simmental breed.  Through lots of trials and errors and being all in very early on collecting data, Gateway has become one of a big time operation for Simental genetics.  Even developing their own style of Simmental hybrid, the Lucky Cross. 

Luke and Katy Keller have a strong bond with Luke’s home ranch in central North Dakota, not only because Luke’s grandfather established their ranch here in 1978, but because it was the backdrop of their wedding just a few years ago.  Luke grew up on this ranch that consisted of both beef and dairy herds, but eventually, the dairy cows left and the beef herd has continued to expand in both numbers and genetics.  Luke has been a big part of growing the herd genetically and he credits his time working for the American Simmental Association as an incredible learning experience.  Luke has a big passion for the beef industry and he shows no signs of slowing that passion down as he continues to work with Katy and the rest of Luke’s family to continue to improve not only their herd but the land as well.

Gary Jacobson’s dream has always been to be a cowboy, and he worked his way to making that dream come true.  Gary has been around beef cattle his whole life starting at 6 years old when he would get rides from local truck drivers to the local sales barn to watch the cattle sell, he even gave up high school football to spend time buying claves every fall during high school.  Since that time Gary and his wife Val, who Gary calls the hardest working woman he knows, together have raised three boys, and in 1998 started working towards Gary’s dream as they put together a registered Red Angus herd.  Gary’s passion for cows comes out naturally when you spend any amount of time with him, as most days Gary is studying his cows from horseback with Val at his side.

Eric Blythe grew up on a cattle ranch just outside of the small town of White City, Kansas, but he now resides in Wooster, Ohio where he works for Certified Angus Beef.  Eric attended Kansas State University and upon graduation, he sent an email to Certified Angus Beef basically say he’d like to work for them and within a few weeks, he had interviewed and set out to start working for CAB three days after graduating.  Certified Angus Beef was founded in 1978 as a program to create a standard beef to sell to consumers.  Eric and I discuss how Certified Angus Beef got its start and how it has evolved over the years and where they hope to go in the future.

George Lake is a 3rd Generation farmer, also a retired Marine and Pilot, who has been raising grass-fed beef for over a quarter of a century and has always had a passion for farming and beef cattle.  More so a passion for soil health and producing a great beef product and he has done that by taking the farm that his grandfather purchased and has turned it into a soil health hub for people to come see for themselves and learn from what George has been working on for years.  George, who is in his 70’s, to me shows no signs of slowing any time soon as he loves working with his soil, cows and dogs to much and is always looking to learn more.

Karen Schaefer is the current Executive Director of the Minnesota Beef Council and runs a cattle operation with her husband and three children.  Karin grew up on a dairy farm in Minnesota and was the Princess Kay of the Milky way runner up, (a very big deal in Minnesota).  After attended college in North Dakota, Karin took a job with the Minnesota Farm Bureau where the experiences she gained from there allowed her to get her current position with the beef council.  Karin is very positive about the future of the beef industry but knows it has its challenges, but believe me, Karin is up for the challenge as she truly loves to promote not on the beef industry locally but nationwide as well.

Amanda Radke is a 3rd generation beef producer from Mitchell, South Dakota were she ranches with her husband Tyler and her parents.  However, Amanda is much more than just a beef producer, she’s a mother, blogger, writer, public speaker and also a beef agriculture advocate.  Amanda has been advocating for beef since her high school days and has not taken a break as she recently tried to get on the Ellen DeGeneres Show to talk about beef with Television host.  Even though Hollywood did not call her, she got her story out to many people around the country and is helping to show the beef industry in the positive light it deserves to be shown in.

White Oak Pastures is a multi-generation farm located in Bluffton, GA that has seen many changes throughout those generations.  Will Harris is the 4th generation in charge and he has taken what was once a conventional operation into a holistic grass-fed vertically integrated operation that utilizes 10 different species to form a full symbiotic.  They are calling it Radically Traditional Farming and not only is he using animals to rejuvenate the land, but he is also bringing new life into a small rural community. 

Joel McCafferty is a 3rd generation rancher, but he did not start ranching when he would have liked to. Joel took a different path getting back to the ranch which included a career in the medical field for a number of years. However, once his opportunity presented itself he jumped all in with his wife Cindy and their two daughters. Joel has been running a very successful cow/calf operation now since the early 2000s, but now he wants to add a new aspect to his operation....hydroponics!