Practically Ranching

Tyler Florence has hosted shows on Food Network, Discovery and several other networks for nearly three decades. He owns restaurants in California, Hawaii and cut his teeth in kitchens in South Carolina. He’s a chef, a businessman, a creative mind, an amazingly nice guy and he LOVES beef and the families who raise it.

Miller & Lux (millerandluxrestaurant.com)

Josh Mueller and Charly Cummings both work with Superior Livestock Auction.

Josh and his wife, Macey, also operate Eldorado Livestock Auction, plus farm and ranch with their family near Halstead, KS.

Charly is an auctioneer, real estate agent, and partners on his family's diversified hay and livestock operation near Yates Center, KS.

On this episode, we cover decisions that producers should consider when they decide how best to merchandise their calves and yearlings this fall. We cover some market trends and even get into the need for producers to join their industry organizations to help make better decisions and represent all producers.

El Dorado Livestock Auction, Inc.
Superior Livestock Auction – The leader in Livestock Marketing

Kevin Ochsner was born and raised on an irrigated farm and registered cattle operation in Fort Collins, Colo. He attended Colorado State University and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in agribusiness. During his undergraduate studies, Kevin was a member of the CSU livestock judging team earning high individual honors at the National Intercollegiate Livestock Judging Contest and was actively involved in FFA, serving as a National FFA Officer in 1987-88. In 1997, Kevin earned his master’s in management from the Krannert School of Business at Purdue University.

Kevin spent more than two decades working for the Indianapolis-based consulting firm Agri Business Group before founding his own consulting practice, Agcellerate, LLC. Over the past 24 years, he has had the privilege of providing strategic planning, marketing consulting, sales/management training and keynote speaking services to some of the country’s largest animal health, crop protection, seed, feed and farm machinery companies.

Today, Kevin, his wife Julie and their three children, Caitlyn, Ashlyn and Collin, make their home in the small agricultural community of Kersey, Colo., 60 miles northeast of Denver. In addition to his consulting and TV hosting responsibilities, Kevin manages his family operation consisting of 130 head of registered Limousin and Lim-Flex cows together with irrigated corn, alfalfa and grass hay along the South Platte River. In addition to marketing bulls to commercial cow-calf operations, Kevin’s family also operates Ochsner Tenderlean Beef, a small branded beef company that markets beef directly to consumers along the Front Range of Colorado. 

This was a live audio recording from last March at South by Southwest in Austin, TX.
SXSW is an annual festival that celebrates the convergence of various fields and genres. 
This panel consisted of host, Tyler Florence, world-renowned chef and Food Network Star, Dr. Temple Grandin, Animal Behaviorist from Colorado State University, Harris Heckelman, CEO of Chef's Warehouse and Matt Perrier, Eureka, KS.

www.sxsw.com

Andy Bishop is a cow-calf producer from Bardstown, KY.  He also serves as a loan officer at their local bank. In addition, he currently serves as Chair of the Cattlemen's Beef Promotion and Research Board.

Cattlemen's Beef Board | Beef Checkoff

Don Close is Terrain’s Chief Research & Analytics Officer. Don’s prior experience includes his work as a senior animal protein analyst at Rabobank, and as a market director for the Texas Cattle Feeders Association, where he worked on all economic and market-sensitive policy issues for cattle feeders in Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico. 

In his three decades of professional experience, Don has been a licensed commodity broker, handled risk management and pricing for large cattle operations, managed a grain procurement program, and published market updates and outlooks for cattle and hogs. Don has conducted research on a wide range of topics including confinement cow/calf operations, dairy-beef crossbreeds, and development in international trade. Don earned his BS in agricultural economics from West Texas A&M.

www.terrainag.com
[email protected]

Dr. Temple Grandin is a professor of Animal Science at Colorado State University. She is a livestock industry consultant, offering advice on animal behavior. She is also an autism spokesperson and advocate.

www.grandin.com

Lance Zimmerman is the Senior Beef Analyst for Rabobank. Prior to joining Rabo, he has worked for the Certified Angus Beef Program and Cattlefax. He holds a BS in Ag Communications and an MS in Ag Economics from Kansas State University.

To access both the summary and complete report we discuss, go to:
Rebuilding with resiliency is a necessity for the US beef supply chain (rabobank.com)

Contact:
Lance Zimmerman (rabobank.com)

Miles Theurer coordinates research projects for Veterinary Research and Consulting Services, LLC, a practice comprised of 12 veterinarians who specialize in feedlot production medicine and research across the high plains region. Miles grew up on a family farm and cow/calf operation in south central Kansas. He did a dual DVM/Ph.D. program at Kansas State University. 

[email protected]

Stan Bevers worked for nearly 3 decades as an extension economist with Texas A&M University. He has also served as a professional consultant on hundreds of ranches from New Mexico to Montana.

He helped develop the Beef Cow-Calf SPA (Standardized Performance Analysis) program and uses Key Performance Indicators and accounting fundamentals to help various sized ranches increase profitability by improving their ability to make marketing and purchasing decisions.

www.ranchkpi.com
[email protected]
940.886.7601