Way Out West! with the Colorado FFA Foundation
From corn farmer to cowboy, we want to hear voices that know western life and agricultural ties. Each week, we will be speaking with various leaders, businesspeople, policy makers, advocates, personalities, and everyone in between. You see, we're not just passionate about agriculture, but we’re interested in showcasing the people who feed America and getting to know what they’re all about!
This podcast is hosted by Aidan Datteri, a past Colorado FFA State Officer and fifth-generation agriculturalist who has a passion and intrigue for all things agriculture.
Way Out West! with the Colorado FFA Foundation
WOW! Ep. 8- Kenton Ochsner on Beef, Ag Literacy, Ag Ed and more!
Step into the world of agricultural advocacy and leadership with Kenton Ochsner, Executive Director of the Colorado Beef Council. After two decades leading the Colorado FFA, Kenton offers an insider's look at the US beef industry, detailing the high demand, tightening cattle supply, and the crucial work of the Beef Checkoff program in promoting quality and consumer trust. He breaks down the economics of beef, discusses new ventures like the CHSAA sports nutrition program, and reflects on the transformative power of ag education and the lasting importance of building relationships. Plus, hear his candid take on agricultural career paths, the challenges of veterinary shortages in rural areas, and the critical need for a strong work ethic across all professions.
Executive Sponsor: Schmeeckle Bros.
Schmeeckle Bros. Construction are leaders in beef processing as a one-stop design and build!
Location Provider: First Farm Bank
Thank you to First Farm Bank of Greeley for providing us with a studio location to record the pod!
Howdy folks, welcome to this week's episode of Way Out West with the Colorado FFA Foundation. This week, we have a really neat opportunity to hear from someone who has served in so many different roles and positions all relating back to agricultural literacy and advocacy in our state of Colorado. Without any further ado on this week's episode, Ken Aushner.
SPEAKER_00:Kenton Okshner, uh currently the executive director of the Colorado Beef Council. Uh kind of my history is uh I grew up in Fort Collins, uh was was involved in Aged as much as I could be. There's a story there as well. Um went to NJC to get started on my degree, uh, became a state officer. Um after my state officer year, I transferred to Oklahoma State University, majored in agriculture education, um, graduated and uh moved back to Colorado and began my teaching career. I taught high school agriculture education for nine years in three different programs here in Colorado before the uh state FFA or executive uh secretary position came open in 2004, and I served in that role for uh 20 years until 2024 and and uh took on my new role. There we go. And uh what what is your new role again? So executive executive director of the Colorado Beef Council. So the Colorado Beef Council uh works for uh the uh farmers and ranchers that that raise cattle, uh, and our job uh and it's through the uh checkoff program. So in 1985, uh there was a referendum and it passed by producers uh to collect one dollar per head for every uh beef animal that is sold or transfers ownership. And um Colorado before that had had a state-level checkoff along with many other states, wasn't quite a dollar. But now, uh, so that dollar that we collect, we get to keep 50 cents of that dollar for state-level issues. 50 cents goes to the national level, and we are governed by a congressional act of what we can and cannot do with that money. So we cannot spend any of that money on lobbying of any any kind.
SPEAKER_03:Right.
SPEAKER_00:Um, and we have to use that for the promotion, education, and research of beef. Right. And so that's what we spend the money on. Um in my job, we have a a full-time staff of myself and another person, and then we have some contractors that help us with some things. Sure. We have uh contractors with uh nutrition uh and dietitian. We have a contractor that does uh our collections and compliance piece. We have a contractor that does uh our our marketing uh strategies and a social media contractor as well. And and so my job is to manage and oversee all of the programs that we we uh sponsor, that we we participate in, from education to uh promotion, advertising, et cetera. Uh and it's been a really fun change. Um, you know, the the biggest challenge that we have in the in the beef industry, um, as you may know, is the cattle numbers continuing to to decline. So that means less revenue for us in Colorado as well, uh, and specifically for the beef checkoff for the beef council.
SPEAKER_03:Sure.
SPEAKER_00:Um, so trying to trying to uh you know continue with a uh a budget, trying to make the most uh of every dollar we can. And the exciting piece is that we have um, you know, beef demand is at an all-time high, not only in Colorado, but across the nation. Um beef prices are also at an all-time high. Uh cattle prices are at an all-time high. Uh producers are the ones that are actually making money right now. And the Packers uh read an article just yesterday that Packers currently are losing about$160 a head currently. Um and, you know, people often ask, you know, why are beef prices so high? Well, simple economics, supply and demand.
SPEAKER_01:Right.
SPEAKER_00:There's not a lot of supply, there's a heck of a lot of demand.
SPEAKER_01:Yep.
SPEAKER_05:Um, you know, some of the programs we and just to speak on that, the demand is very, like this other economic term, very inelastic. Um, people aren't, for whatever reason, people aren't really willing to switch over to different types of proteins or, you know, even chicken is even though it's a growing industry um in terms of fast food or a lot of recipes you see, they talk about more chicken is being used and utilized. But the demand for beef in the United States is very inelastic, very steady.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, it is. Yeah, you know, and that the current price per pound for chicken is$2.50.
SPEAKER_01:Right.
SPEAKER_00:Current price per pound for beef is uh you know a little over$9.
SPEAKER_01:Right.
SPEAKER_00:Um, and and so people are, I think the biggest thing, and and sometimes producers, and this is what I try to go out and talk to producers about, um, and especially those that, you know, some are not for the checkoff and don't see the results. Um, but when I look over when the checkoff began in 1985, I was just a youngster. And, you know, doctors were saying, hey, eat less, less red meat. Um, when you'd go to the store, you'd buy a steak and it might be really good. You go buy another one two days later and it was garbage. Right. Or you go to the restaurant. Yeah. And the things that I think have really helped the demand side of things is what the checkoff has done through research. And that research has funded programs like beef quality assurance programs that have really studied uh how we care for animals and all the way to the plate, how do we make sure that we have a great tasting, consistent, flavorful experience for consumers? And and that is what consumers are saying right now is hey, quality is consistent no matter if I go to a you know an Elways restaurant and spend 120 bucks on a steak, or I go to to Costco and I buy a steak there. The quality is consistent. And so to me, that is a huge you know, reason uh and uh impact of what the checkoff has done over you know since 1985.
SPEAKER_05:Right. Yeah. There's also so some other newer programs coming up too. And and you got me thinking about this again, um, when you had mentioned, you know, doctors and and the red meat and how we don't really see that kind of a pushback um for in terms of the consumer's understanding of their own personal and nutritional health. Um but then we also have some new, more exciting programs coming out in Colorado specifically with uh and the ones I'm speaking towards are uh your partnership with Chassa now to to really promote beef as an athletic food. Um if you want to speak on that, I was just interested to hear more about what that that program's doing, how it's getting set up and and what you're aiming for long term.
SPEAKER_00:You bet. Um, you know, that we started that partnership with uh Colorado High School Activity Association uh last year. Um, and you're speaking about the sports nutrition game plan.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And that program uh was actually developed uh by some folks in Texas um and has allowed us and other states to utilize that program. And and really what that program does is try to teach young people um the importance of nutrition. Uh and and because young people, you know, and it's around sports, but you don't have to be an athlete to be, you know, participate in it. Right. But it just teaches young people how do you provide a good balanced uh diet and how do you make sure that beef is part of that. And it provides um recipes that mom and dad can do, that you can have for um team dinners, so to speak. If you are, if, if you're a you know, a young person and you want to stop at 7-Eleven or a you know, store, how you know, how do you get a decent uh nutritious meal, uh, even at a convenience store that will provide you with some energy and some fuel and protein that you need to do whatever it is that you do. And and so those are really exciting things. So our partnership with Chassa uh really became last year was an awareness. And so um, you know, Chassa has, you know, a ton of students involved in a, you know, not just sports, but band and and all esports and everything else. Um, but we're really focused on on the the uh uh wrestling, uh basketball last year, track, um, because those were kind of some big bigger events that they have, especially at the state level, and just trying to promote the program, get get not only students, parents, and coaches to sign up for this sports nutrition game plan. We've extended that this year. Um, and you'll you'll see us around more at other sporting events, at the state level sporting events. Um, volleyball is a new one we're gonna take on. So we'll we do some interactive things with with uh you know the fans at basketball games and football games, um, trying to get them that. We're trying to do some promotion of beef there. We'll do some uh opportunities to table out in lobbies or in other areas of those uh state championship uh tournaments. Uh we're also trying to do some things um outside of those state championship windows, trying to get students to encourage their coaches to to do some coaches challenges, where whether it's you know a push-up challenge or something like that. And then we'll award, you know, that team with some type of a prize. And it's just a matter of trying to continue to promote the program and get more young people. I I think, you know, the the other advantage of beef demand is the other research opportunities. Um, you know, people are more conscious today, I think, about their diets than they ever have been. Uh a big push on pro high protein in your diet. So that you know, allows beef to really excel in that.
SPEAKER_03:Of course.
SPEAKER_00:But not only for um, you know, teens and and you know, kind of the the main group, but a real big push on the importance of protein in uh early child development and then also later in life for older people. And so that research has helped create um uh documents that doctors, nurses can share with patients to be able to say, hey, beef is an important piece of your diet, make sure you have some in there.
SPEAKER_05:Sure.
SPEAKER_00:Um, and and that has really helped too.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah. And and what do you think? Because I when you look at like mainstream media, um, and I'm talking seriously, like on an Instagram or TikTok setting, there's all of these, you know, nutritionalists, so to speak, or really what they are are are just influencers pushing out different recipes uh for nutrition, right? And for um, if you're looking to bulk or to cut weight, this is what you should be eating. A lot of them contain at that point chicken. And and so is this kind of to offset some of that push too, or is it is it more so the hard fact is that beef is a better meat, anyways.
SPEAKER_00:Well, I I think a lot of them use chicken because chicken is a more economically friendly product.
SPEAKER_03:Sure.
SPEAKER_00:Um, but there's there's just as many that use beef in those types of examples as well. And we're working with some um influencer, we're trying to work with some influencers. They do at the national level that we can utilize. And we're looking at some micro influencers in Colorado that we can utilize for those types of things as well. Uh, we use a person, uh Chef Jason Morse with 5280 that does some of those options for us as well. Um, and so trying to find those people in a cost effective, you know, going back to what my job is, is I said earlier, you know, we have a limited budget. And so making sure that everything we do, every dollar we spend has a return of investment on that. The challenge that we have in the as a beef council, uh, unlike other businesses, is we do not have uh, you know, a direct return on investment of sales of product. And so we look at demand and and we get some uh through the national level, they they provide us data every once a year. We have some other opportunities to look at that data. Um, but it's really hard for us to say, yes, we are selling more product. Our job is not to sell more product, our job is to create more demand for the product, which in turn will create more sales. Right.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah. Yeah. And I I was had this question originally too, with the with the demand increasing, and you mentioned even supply does incre or decrease year to year um in in terms of the number of head out uh in Colorado and the United States, um, that number does decrease. And and even though, and if you look at the cattle fax graph, the the production uh from each animal is increasing, our our output still is increasing, even on less head, but that that does complicate things for your budget all the same. Um with the the the market for cattle right now, um live cattle, of course, uh what what are we looking at in terms of supply uh changes? Because we we keep hearing, you know, for the last three years, really, that the supply for cattle and cows specifically um is gonna return again and we're going to go back up just slightly to to a more manageable breeding number. Um when, why, and how is that gonna happen? And and really, do you guys have any work in that field of the supply factor either?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, that's a good question. Um, you know, it's hard for us uh to really look at that. And and so when you when you really study the the number of head, um, and there's a lot of people that are saying, hey, there's being, you know, people are starting to retain more heifers right now. We're not seeing as many call cows and call bulls going to the market right now either. Right. Um, so that's a small indication that maybe um herd size is stabilizing. Right. Uh, and I think that's a more appropriate word to use is stabilizing. Yeah. Um, and not saying we're looking at a rebuild or anything like that. Sure. Uh, you know, a lot goes into the herd size and and you know, whether it's drought that we had a a number of years ago, where people, you know, just didn't have enough feed to feed cows, so they were, you know, selling cattle early. Um, right now you have people, producers that are having to make decisions. Do I keep this heifer calf or do I sell her, you know, for three thousand dollars as a weaned calf, right, uh, and and be done.
SPEAKER_01:Right.
SPEAKER_00:Um and and as a beef council, we don't um we're really more focused on the the product. Uh we help producers as far as uh through the beef quality assurance program and we support that. But as far as beef numbers and actual live cattle, we don't do a whole lot with live cattle.
SPEAKER_01:Fair enough.
SPEAKER_00:Um but it's you know, it's it's an interesting thing. Um you talked about we're we're producing more beef with fewer head, and we are. Um part of that is is that we're I I contribute that to during COVID, um, you know, we didn't have the the capacity to to kill cattle.
SPEAKER_01:Right.
SPEAKER_00:And so we're having to feed cattle a little little longer. Um what that did is that created more prime and choice options because we fed those cattle longer. Sure. And then consumers are like, well, we really like this. So what did we do as an industry? We said, hey, let's continue feeding them longer to have a better, higher quality beef product that yes, we can charge more money for because it's higher quality, and consumers still loved it.
SPEAKER_01:Right.
SPEAKER_00:And so that's what we're seeing, along with a lower, lower supply of cattle. So we're we're feeding cattle longer. We're actually, I think um, cattle today um compared to 10 years ago, we're getting like 60 to 70 more pounds of beef per head than we were five or 10 years ago. I don't remember that number specifically. Um, so they're they're and that's just because they're bigger. Uh, not only have we fed them longer, but genetics have improved as well across all breeds of cattle, that they are larger, they're they're heavier muscled, they're they're creating uh higher quality carcasses.
SPEAKER_05:Sure. Wow, that makes sense. It it's it's so interesting, though, that there are just that many different factors, you know, in a lot of our classes and and looking through um the the like genetic side of it, right? In in terms of they're just larger animals, which is true. But even that, you know, 70 pounds in the last decade or so, that's a very considerable number to think that we're not looking at these animals as being that much taller or that much longer. Um that they're just producing more beef per head. That's that's amazing.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and there's other factors that have gotten into play. The, you know, the beef on dairy um factor has really, I think, helped uh to some degree with our supply. Um, of course, when you cross beef cattle to dairy cattle, you're gonna typically have larger carcasses that way as well. Um and then, you know, we don't really get into the the uh trade uh options either as a beef council, but um, you know, when you have uh importing cattle or beef from other countries, um you know, right now we're we're not bringing any cattle across the border from Mexico to go into feedlots and and get fed um and be part of the food chain as well. So that has really um caused issues with our supply. Um and and it's been limited for a long time is you know, for a number of years of how many cattle we import. Um when you look across feedlots, and I think the the latest statistic I've read um last week were most feedlots in the US uh were only at 60% of their capacity. Um and so that you know that tells you that we're still short on supply.
SPEAKER_01:Right.
SPEAKER_00:And uh, you know, the other part of uh of the demand side of the equation is um we we partner with uh U.S. Meat Export Federation as well. And so their job is to they work primarily with beef and pork, but to create demand across the globe. And we have seen a huge demand increase in recent years for beef across the world. Uh Korea uh loves our beef and is a huge importer of US beef. Um and we're getting into other uh areas of the world that we've never been into. Um as a world economy increases, people have across the globe have more income to spend on products. The other advantage to us on exporting beef or beef products is, you know, in other cultures and other countries, they love, you know, products that we don't love here in the U.S.
SPEAKER_03:Sure.
SPEAKER_00:Some of the awful products.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And and those are our beautiful pieces that they they enjoy that most Americans are not going to enjoy, like tongue and liver and heart. Right.
SPEAKER_05:I was gonna say awful is referring to um cuts and meat that are not like going to be primary cuts in the grocery store. Yep. Um liver too, right? Yeah. Yes. Um and do we consider like any part of the brains or the, you know, and and um a lot of the more South American and and really just anywhere south of the United States that's eating beef, they also use a lot of the the head meat, right? Uh barbacoa.
SPEAKER_00:They do.
SPEAKER_05:Um is that also considered awful? Or yeah. Okay. Yep. That's I think that's good that we're we're finding other places to to then put that product. Correct. Because I think it's proven very difficult for the American audience um to accept that as a as a real choice in their diet.
SPEAKER_00:Yep. And I I've had heart before. I'm not a huge liver fan. Right.
SPEAKER_05:Uh I've had liver's got a texture thing. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:I've had heart and I've had cheek and and tongue and and uh, you know, not that I would eat that every day, but um, if done when cooked right, they're they're pretty good. Uh the other interesting thing I think in the beef industry is this huge um demand and this increased uh interest in beef tallow um for not only cooking, right, but also cosmetic products, etc. And so, you know, how do we capitalize on that?
SPEAKER_05:Right. I don't know. I think that that one's kind of kicked off it it on its own from my perspective of um people just like the product. People like that it's natural and um, you know, it's not a synthetic, so it is better for, you know, in cosmetic products. It's not messing with people's um, you know, dermatology or or skin conditions or anything like that. It's just proven to be a useful product. Actually makes me wonder why it didn't kick off sooner. I mean, it it's an easier product to utilize than anything synthetic. So I don't know, I don't know where this push really came from or why it wasn't prevalent before.
SPEAKER_00:Right. And I I you know, I'm not a historian. Right. I would I would love to go back into history and and you know, go back to the West when when our country was founded and and into the 1800s. I am sure that people use beef tallow for a lot of things. Right. At some point in time, as we as a country, I won't say evolved, but uh became more industrialized and and more science-based information in there. Um, you know, the synthetic products came about. And so we didn't worry as much about that. Um, but it's very interesting to kind of see that pendulum swing back and go, okay, this is a great product. Right. Because you said for not only cooking, it's a better product for cooking than than our other oils and so forth that we get.
SPEAKER_05:Uh well, and even butter has so much oil in it now. Correct. Which is just crazy.
SPEAKER_00:Right. So trying to find trying to find real butter in the store is very limited, yeah?
SPEAKER_05:Exactly.
SPEAKER_00:Uh, and so people are using oil-based butters. They're easier to spread, etc. So they have some advantages.
SPEAKER_01:Right.
SPEAKER_00:Um, but I think there's, you know, just as there's advantages over your synthetic uh fats and oils for uh cosmetics and cooking, there's advantages of beef tellow. I agree.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah. It I like the product. I I like that it's also just utilizing that much more of the animal. Um, it is so like to me, so important that we're finding ways to use these different products. I know there's not going to be a a market for 100% of the animals, and I just I don't really see that as a possibility for for um the current economic piece of it, right? There's just not going to be a market for some things anywhere. Yep. Um, there's already just better alternatives that have been worked on for a long time. Um it's not going to be quite like that, but as much as we can find uses for these other pieces and make markets available um for for less desired, less valued pieces. I mean, you hear about briskets in in Europe and they just don't have a market for it still. Um which that one's fascinating to me because you you know, you can hear Americans go over there and who live there, they will buy or not really have to buy, they can just ask for brisket from the butcher and receive it free of cost.
SPEAKER_03:Yep.
SPEAKER_05:Even though we're using it as one of our more valued cuts because of barbecue practices and because of the way that we utilize it. There's it's just amazing that more markets worldwide are not utilizing either different products or the same products we are in different ways, you know.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and and part of it is um, you know, cultures. Um, you know, just as we don't like to eat tongue, right, other places do.
SPEAKER_05:Right.
SPEAKER_00:Um and it's just part of their culture.
SPEAKER_05:Same with like tripe and yep.
SPEAKER_00:And so, you know, brisket has been part of our culture here. Um and I pause on that because I don't know if it's been part of our culture until fairly recently. Right. You know, yeah. Um somebody said, Hey, let's take this cut of meat that we we're just grinding, right? And let's throw it on a smoker and see what happens. And they really, you know, then it's become very popular.
SPEAKER_05:Uh and now we have brisket burger for a premium. Correct. Yeah. Yes, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Um, and and really I think the important thing is is how do we in the beef industry create uh as much value for that animal as possible?
SPEAKER_01:Sure.
SPEAKER_00:Um, whether it's here in the US or you know globally, but in continue to create value. Uh, because that value will then, you know, go all the way down to the cow calf pretty sure if we do it right.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah. So that's a good point. There there is a lot to this piece as well of of the marketing these value-added products to. Um is there any work being done for for you guys to add value to to even current products or um you know, things that we already consume in the United States? Are there potentials for a value-added product? Because I think that we have a lot of it happening in in crop production and um and uh these other spaces that are utilizing a lot of the time either GMOs or more of our uh organic processes, really anything you can put a label on becomes a value-added product at that point. But it happens not so so often with meat products. Um is there anything you guys are looking into for value added?
SPEAKER_00:You know, I I would say in general, um, you know, as a meat science, and I'm not a meat scientist, but I know as as the meat science industry continues to evolve, um, you know, they are continuing to look at every muscle and to figure out, hey, can we do something else with this muscle versus what we've been traditionally using the muscle for in a in a in a cut? Right. Um, you know, if you're familiar with the flat iron stake, um that really came on in the last 10 years, 15 years maybe. And that's through research going, hey, let's take this, separate this muscle, and let's see what we can do with that. And so trying to create a higher value cut uh compared to what it normally had been into.
SPEAKER_05:Uh there's a bit of a myth with the flat iron stake, too, isn't there? There, there's some. Is it there's some.
SPEAKER_00:Um, so they're they're looking at those types of things and going, hey, you know, um what what can we utilize these muscles for uh to create more value for the carcass? I I think the where the other value piece comes in is is really for the producer side. Um branded products. So you have certified Angus beef is right, you know, obviously the the number one branded product probably in the in the US. But there are gosh, I was looking at a list the other day, um a ton of different branded products of of either producers, breeds, those types of things that are branded products. And so they're trying to create value for those cattle for both the producer and the consumer. Right. And and trying to market that as a value.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, it is uh that's a good one. I forgot um about a lot of those different breeds having their own tag and certification now, too. Um that one to me, I I just I don't follow quite as closely personally, just because I've never noticed much of a difference, even though um I I'll joke and and there's some truth to to liking black Angus more. I don't think you could ever convince me that there's too much of a difference personally.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I I don't know, I don't know that you could take certified Angus. Now some people say they can.
SPEAKER_05:Right.
SPEAKER_00:I've never done it. It would be a fun uh research project, maybe, but if you had certified Angus beef to you know non-certified Angus beef. Right.
SPEAKER_05:And and had still a really good chance it's Angus.
SPEAKER_00:Right. You know, can you tell the difference in the in the in the meat case? And I and I don't I don't know if you can. You know, you take some of the American Wagyu stuff and and you're going to see it see a difference in the meat case there probably just because they they marble differently. You'll see a difference in the meat case, you know, grass-fed versus or grass finished versus grain finished by the color of of the fat and the the muscle itself. And then it becomes just you know a nice uh opportunity for the consumers to then make choices. Just as you go to the grocery store and you buy um you know a gallon of milk it it's not all just one brand. You can buy you know lots of different brands of milk number one you can you can buy whole milk 2% 1% etc you can buy um other milk type products right um that if you're lactose intolerant etc um so there's you know I I think there's value in providing consumers a choice because if they have a choice and you as a marketer can ask more money based on your product and convince this consumers to spend more of their income on that it's a win-win.
SPEAKER_05:Right.
SPEAKER_00:As long as it's a quality product.
SPEAKER_05:I was about to say there has to still be the this truth to what we're doing too. Um that's been a big thing for me is in in marketing and in labeling the truth and and trust in agriculture beyond just literacy because they can understand beef comes from a cow but if they can't uh if they can't understand you know where that beef is coming from or even just trust that when we say this is a a choice cut or a uh prime and that's better than something else or that's better than just the meat in their hamburger you know.
SPEAKER_00:Yep.
SPEAKER_05:Um because a lot of them aren't going to understand really why or what why that is or what the USDA grading system represents. But if they can trust that what we're saying is is factual. And I guess that's where my thing of it it probably should be research and it's got me thinking actually about what we can do. Um might end up being a research project of mine now just because yeah we we need to have truth to saying if this is certified Angus or if this is her Hereford's have some too now. Yeah. Right? Um if we're pitting those two breeds against each other and we're saying each one is better, is the consumer really going to to believe that either of those products are better than something that doesn't have a certified label at all. Right. You know I think that is important because as soon as they start realizing or or if they start or if it's even untrue in the first place that they don't like these products as much.
unknown:Yep.
SPEAKER_05:Um we're going to see a lot less return in our trust and then the the stuff that you guys put out then too, right? They're not going to be as receptive to these ideas of what what good beef is or what the uh the need for beef is anymore. They're just not going to believe what they're being fed.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. You know you you talk about consumer education and and we spend a lot of time with that um and and consumer trust and and so we do um we invest some money into consumer surveys every year um where you know a number of consumers within our state borders are surveyed about how much beef do they eat, how often do they eat it, um concerns that they have do they trust um you know when it comes to beef production who do they trust getting information from they trust producers they trust veterinarians um their biggest concern in at least in Colorado and there's not a lot of specific information about that is just animal welfare. Welfare yeah um and so that's a huge concern. You know we I went to had the opportunity about a year ago to travel to uh Taiwan and South Korea uh through with the Colorado Department of Ag and went over there and went into um Costco's and other stores that they have that sell beef and the one thing that I was really impressed with is uh their education that they have about you know the cuts of meat. So they had the cut chart on the wall at the in front of the meat case uh they talked about what is prime versus choice uh what does that mean right and and I think and I don't know how to change it here in the US but when I was young way before you were you were born you know in the meat case in any grocery store you saw that the the cut chart now I've never have seen a cut chart at a grocery store.
SPEAKER_05:I think a lot of that has to do with the literacy versus trust argument right in in terms of people don't really want to know at this point being too far removed.
SPEAKER_00:I I wonder if people are too far removed though from the operation I think there's opportunity to educate consumers about what is what is the difference between choice and prime um because they only hear they they go oh hey my buddy Aiden you know said he had got some prime steaks from such and such store right um so I'm gonna go buy some prime steaks right right have no idea what the difference is between prime and choice they could have just as good of an eating experience with the same steaks choice and save a few dollars versus a prime um the other piece is really educating consumers about okay if you don't want to spend you know this many dollars per pound for this high priced uh cut of meat um but you want a quality eating experience what's another cheaper cut that I can get and buy to save some money that will still provide the same type or similar eating experience um based on my recipe etc so we spend a lot of time on our our website of uh seal beef.com we link to the beef it's what's for dinner website um to talk about not only recipes on there uh and those recipes typically most of them have here's a primary cut of beef but if you want a cheaper less expensive option here's a here's a cheaper option you can do just trying to be and I think that's the really important thing for us to do right now is with the economy being in what it is and and people are stretched for dollars uh and beef prices are extremely high how can we provide consumers that information to go hey I want this type of an Indian experience but I can't afford it so here's the next option for me to still have a good quality experience.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah I think that is probably a a a good idea to to be able to provide um at least that level of literacy for sure. Because then you you're not making people remember um that this comes from this muscle of the of the animal but um that these things can interchange and can play together um a lot of folks probably won't notice the difference between prime and choice. Right, right.
SPEAKER_00:So that's a good the the one thing if I could if I could achieve anything the one thing I thought was really cool over in Korea so every cut of beef had a QR code on it. Really on the label you scan that and it tells you provides you with some recipes tells you how to cook that cut of meat and and there's a video that you can watch with a chef cooking that cut of meat. And I'm like that's really really cool. That's neat what can we could we do something like that here you know and and and I look at it and I go hey beef demand is high you know some people look at it and say hey we don't have to worry about it. You know everybody loves it so just you know they love our product.
SPEAKER_01:Let it run.
SPEAKER_00:But my fear is is when you do that when you rest on your laurels and and you know FFA teaches that and and it's in every um degree ceremony as well right if if you rest on your laurels and you don't do anything to continue to be proactive I don't want to be here 10 years from now and go, well, beef demand is really low because we didn't do what we should have done right of educating the consumers.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah. At some point there there would be a push right if if you just let things run its course. Other industries who who do not have the same demand or do not have the same um really I mean the same curve for demand right is is what we keep looking at and have to keep in mind is just our demand curve is super steep. They're not they're not too concerned about the change in price. Beef will continue to be bought and eaten. Other cuts, other industries aren't like that.
SPEAKER_01:Right.
SPEAKER_05:Um they will push harder right if we if we're not being proactive and keeping up with with our customer base with the consumer uh the consumers will be won over by other you know directives again. I mean the not only with chicken um and you still see this right with Chick-fil-A which is very interesting to me the way that Chick-fil-A's marketing works. But um you you see them asking people to eat more chicken, right? And it's it's in a bizarre way to me just because they're using dairy cows to to provide that information but um it's still just happening even day in and day out. It was a bigger thing in I believe the 80s or 90s. Um and then of course with pork coming along with the the second white meat just kind of riding off of the back of that people realize pork is just another option at that point and of course that goes hand in hand though with the with the red meat argument from from a health perspective. So there was a lot that played into it but I think well we see that flip back and forth at some point I do wonder or believe that if doctors are going to start saying oh this new thing about red meat you know whether it's the fat content or um the I don't even know they there could just be one thing or another that right research says all of a sudden this piece of red meat is bad for you.
SPEAKER_00:Yep. So you know and that's the important piece of research it you know at the national level and we don't have in Colorado we don't have enough money from our checkout dollars uh because research costs a lot of money and so uh we will support that uh with the through uh the national level uh and allow them to pull money from a lot of states to really put towards some good effective research but you know it's you know my hope is is that the research we're involved in is good positive research but every industry is doing that type of research and so they're going to have you know the pork industry is trying to do research too probably to try to prove that they're better than beef right or chicken etc and the in the poultry industry is doing the same so you know it kind of depends on how you know who has the has the most money to provide the best quality research and also educate doctors and nurses and consumers about the research.
SPEAKER_05:Right. Yeah I think another point that they just they do better in is is the fast food space. Pork is an interesting one because there's not too much versatility but then you see McRib season come back and it's been coming you know the the idea of using pork in a in a fast food sandwich has been increasing pretty steadily um in terms of and this is just the McRib example there's a McRib season every year every other year now and instead of every five years or every ten years. Yep. And that did start from a research project I I have to say I just like McRibs and that's why I know a weird amount about this but the it was just a research product McDonald's wanted to say hey let's let's fund something. Yep. And so it was the corporate side it was the really a retailer side of of funding to say we need some kind of pork fast food option.
SPEAKER_00:Yep and I think we'll help you find it. Didn't they do that at UNL uh I think so yeah um that created that product right for McDonald's in the first place. You know and and it's you know I the the pork industry I think is going through some challenges right now um for that consistent quality product that provides um some other alternatives out there. So I I know that the pork industry is really working towards that. At one point in time um you know pork and chicken were were way above uh beef in in demand and that is kind of flip-flop. Chicken I think is always going to be uh a great uh competitive product just because they can you know keep it inexpensive right um and they can produce a lot of chickens in a lot less time than we can cattle.
SPEAKER_05:Yep.
SPEAKER_00:Um what is it a a four-month turnaround?
SPEAKER_05:I think a four month turnaround for chickens yeah and that's generation to generation too so they yeah if if if something changes and they they need to change something genetically for those animals too they only have a four month turnaround for that one as well.
SPEAKER_00:So you know and the pork industry has a lot quicker turnaround than we do. Right. But that's the one you know the one cool thing I think that we've done in the the beef industry is even though we have a longer turnaround, I look at the success that we've had in the beef industry um of quality of genetics, uh production practices, feeding practices, et cetera, and marketing that we've been able to have to create this demand that we have right now. I uh when I talk to producers all the time, I'm like, you know, really the beef council is the their advocate to the consumer our job is to advocate the quality of care, um, how it in how beef impacts the environment etc to the consumer and the nutritional aspects to the consumer as well. And so we are the the advocate um folks for the beef industry.
SPEAKER_05:That's cool. Yeah. Now I did want to kind of switch up on and and ask you um a little bit less related to to beef itself um but still to your job there's there's some overlapping aspects of you know a lot of folks either come out and and they go either teach for three years and then they'll go on to an industry either with literacy work or with business work.
SPEAKER_00:Yep.
SPEAKER_05:Of course you're still working through a little bit of both industry and business. But you did teach for longer and in between all of that you had a 20 year span of being the state advisor here in Colorado. So I just wanted to pick your brain a little bit more on first off how how your former two uh jobs in you know more of the ag ed space itself um has kind of influenced your way of thinking through ag literacy in this space now. And and as you've already mentioned some of those opportunities that you found were really cool um across borders and and in different countries and then bringing those kinds of ideas back to the states um and for our consumer base. But also I'm sure that there's been a lot that you've just kind of thought over going through different spaces of FFA and ag ed um that have also influenced the way that you want the space for ag literacy and for consumer understanding of agriculture to change itself anyways.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. And and it that takes a step back in time. So um you know I was a teenager in the 80s during the farm crisis of the 80s and so that was the influx of animal rights uh and environmental rights um and putting a lot of pressure on on the industry of agriculture and and that industry of agriculture if I if I go back to when I was 12 13 years old um what I wanted to do in my life was to to farm and ranch and and be successful in that um with those those influences we had at that point in time it it made it more challenging plus you had the economic crisis and so I I knew and and my parents are like hey you need to go get an education you can come back if you want to and if it works out but you need to go get an education uh with a degree and so as I did that I initially was going into ag business um I became a state officer and that was really a uh uh when I look back in time that was probably the most impactful year that I had in my life um as a youngster even though I'd gone to two years of college I really didn't know what I wanted to do. Served as a state officer I remember to this day I was at Colorado State Fair um you know had the petting pan you know a little different at that time than what it's transversed into today but I remember to this day there's a little boy and his dad that came up and we had some animals there and it was a I remember there's a rabbit and a little puppy.
SPEAKER_05:And the the dad was you know petting and the little boy was petting this rabbit okay and the little boy says oh you know what is this dad and he goes it's a puppy oh boy and I went whoa yeah um at the time and I corrected them as nicely as I could I didn't want to embarrass the dad right but as I thought of that especially over the next weeks and months I'm like okay people don't understand if they don't understand the difference between a puppy and a rabbit they surely don't understand the difference between a cow and a sheep right right one they don't that's still very true I I had a very similar petting zoo experience where they're looking at uh a calf and said it's a lamb.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah it's not right and so it really made me realize that people you know they've they become so far removed from production agriculture that they have no understanding.
SPEAKER_01:Right.
SPEAKER_00:And so that was really transformative for me to go into agriculture education because I wanted to teach um and try to be a solution to that problem and teach others about agriculture and not just you know people like you that have some knowledge and experience about ag but people that don't and and be a part of that solution. So my teaching career began down in the San Luis Valley at a very small school very ag production based didn't have very many uh urban type students there. Most of them had ag background right I enjoyed it I loved it um was down there for for a few years then I went to uh Douglas County High School in Castle Rock a very urban school I went from one of the smallest school districts in the state to one of the largest school districts in the state uh a completely different student population and and it really I what I enjoyed about that experience at Douglas County was I was working with young people that had limited or no experience or education about agriculture. And so that really fulfilled me from that standpoint. And then I transferred to uh uh Platt Valley High School out in Kersey and at the time this was in uh 1999 I guess at the time we had about 75 students I guess there 7580 and I would say probably 90% of them had an ag background.
SPEAKER_01:Right.
SPEAKER_00:10% didn't have much understood it a little bit but didn't come from ag right five years later or less than five years later that that student population changed dramatically and we were having a lot more students coming out to Kersey that had very limited or no experience in agriculture. And so you know I think changing the dynamics of the program the types of courses we taught uh was a huge impact and important in that aspect. So when I look at agriculture education you know I think it's important um to teach those everybody who's interested in agriculture as a career but understanding in those programs and those teachers have an understanding that not all of our students are going into production agriculture.
SPEAKER_01:Right.
SPEAKER_00:Majority of them are not and so we need to provide them with quality experiences about agriculture so that they can be informed consumers and hopefully they will have some type of an career or an impact around agriculture, but they're not going to be producers likely.
SPEAKER_03:Of course.
SPEAKER_00:And so those things as a state advisor came along um really looking and and trying to work with students to to figure out what are their needs. And you know from the leadership side of things because that's really where I was focused on is what kind of leadership can we provide high school students to make them better people. So when I go back and I circling back around now my desire to have an impact in agriculture is what got me into ag education um the desire to to make informed consumers and then as a state advisor my desire to to to provide leadership to those people to make them better people um and then I circle back to where I am today it really is is kind of an all uh encompassing type opportunity because now I have the opportunity to work with consumers to educate them work with medical personnel work with leaders in different industries to promote the a product of beef.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah that's neat it really has kind of come full circle then too because I think beef is is also one of those more misunderstood markets with consumers of yes they're they're asking for it and they want it but the difference even between hamburger and steak is not well understood. The fact that that comes from different pieces of meat is not well understood.
SPEAKER_00:And grass fed versus grain fed right you know yeah um consumers are always right consumers are all always like well I want grass fed cattle you know beef. Well all cattle are grass fed exactly you know to a point in time and then some are finished on on on grain and some are finished on grass. Um and so trying to get them to understand that and that education that has to take place.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah it is I'm sure it's a harder push now than ever just with a decreasing um population either first generation removed, second generation removed and then that's really where that steep drop off of of understanding agricultural production is is a in that third generation removed from production. That being said though there is a lot of opportunity too and I'm sure you've seen this over the last you know um 30 almost 30 years that you were in ag ed itself was that there's more opportunities opening up in the business side of agriculture too.
SPEAKER_00:Oh yes making sure that we get people connected to that I'm sure has been quite a challenge as well as a an enjoyable part of the job just to make sure yeah and and it's what we do in the beef industry, you know, you mentioned before a research project right um there are so many I think career opportunities in agriculture um that students do not even realize and most people don't realize um the opportunity and finance and and marketing uh globally global opportunities um research extension um there there's a ton of opportunities for young people if they truly love the agriculture industry to get involved in the ag industry now they they may not have cattle or or sheep or dogs or horses or anything like that or grow corn or wheat or soybeans but they're still involved in an important aspect of the ag industry um you know trying to make sure that our consumers have trust and confidence in the the products that we have that is an important piece in our industry as well so you know as I remember as an ag teacher talking about careers to students and I I you know even though I was familiar with a lot of the career careers out there um I probably didn't understand them enough.
SPEAKER_03:Sure.
SPEAKER_00:And so when I look back now and I'm like wow I would you know to be able to go in and talk to students about these opportunities that are really cool and amazing and they can still be in the industry that they love, um I would love to do that because when I I've worked with people you know from the Department of Ag to USMEF to um Cattlemen's Beef Board, uh National Cattlemen's Beef Association and all these other organizations in this current you know 14 months that I've been in this job and understand and get to know them of what are they doing and the impact that they're having in not only the beef industry but in agriculture in general.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And you know I think as an ag teacher I looked at just big career options, you know, marketing a veterinarian which everybody wants to be a veterinarian but we're still at a you know we we've had this push on this one blows me away you know veterinary science has been a push for a number of years but yet we still have a shortage of veterinarian.
SPEAKER_01:Right.
SPEAKER_05:That one So why is that yeah well what I can think of and what I've been thinking since since you were talking about all of these different more interesting career paths um I'm sitting in a lecture hall of 360 people in an intro to animal science with I'd like to say over 90% what based on just visual raising their hands when asked if if they're on the pre-vet track looking to be a veterinarian.
SPEAKER_03:Yep.
SPEAKER_05:And that's at CSU alone this year. It's the largest animal science class that they've had in a long time largest pre-vet track class or cohort coming through for the freshman year or first year student. I also know on the back end of that and they're very aware even our professor in that class very aware we are not going to see all of them end up being veterinarians. Most people on that pre-vet track so to speak are are going to switch over and a lot of the time switching over to either other majors or they're just dropping the pre-vet track and and keeping up with animal science to get involved in some other part of animal science, animal agriculture. I think that's the market right in terms of promoting these different jobs. They are higher reaching students the un most unfortunate thing that I see happening um and and talking to people who are you know at their third or or fourth year in college in animal science is the drop off and the change of majors um into not only other agricultural majors but just other majors completely biol biology, um biochemistry, full chemistry majors just switching to other paths and not really keeping in tune with the idea of agriculture itself even though some of those do touch and and some people come back around and you hear that time and time again but they're not staying actively involved or actively influenced by influencing agriculture. Sometimes it just comes back around so the more that we can keep people in animal science and then either add a minor or a major to to say that I'll go into the research side or I'll go into this actual hands-on literacy side.
SPEAKER_00:I mean that that whole piece of literacy just isn't really well spoken on yep um I think that that should be a push right that should be a passion well and and I went to uh before I began this it was right at the beginning of this uh position an opportunity to go to a training out at uh Purina headquarters and and really look at what Their you know their research is doing, and and the researchers, and and a lot of those researchers out there had a background in ag, but some didn't. Right. But really looking at what are they doing to research um animal nutrition, but also how it relates to human nutrition. And so there's you know, there are connections between those two. Um, but but they're you know, just like that. I'm like, oh my gosh, I had no idea um that Purina has these career opportunities that someone could do if they're really interested in in research or or the biology aspect, right, um, of nutrition for both humans and and animals. And so it's really interesting, and I would encourage young people to really um do some research, spend some time and going, you know, okay, if I want to study just biology, what are some career opportunities out there? But I have an interest in agriculture.
SPEAKER_01:Right.
SPEAKER_00:So, you know, looking at, you know, feed companies and finding out are there job opportunities with them so I can still maintain my connection. I look at vet science programs, and and yeah, I I have no problem, you know, there's there's gotta be a process for this excitement of students to go through, say they want to be a vet, and then realize that maybe it's not what I wanted to do.
SPEAKER_05:Um pretty much as soon as organic chemistry hits, it's gonna, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Yep. Um, but we have I think where they're making progress on the vet science thing is really on the small animal side. Um, I think we're missing opportunities on the large animal side and people wanting to be in rural parts of not only Colorado, but across the United States. And the same is true in ag education.
SPEAKER_03:Right.
SPEAKER_00:Same is true in ag ed teachers.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:You know, everybody, you know, there's a lot of people that want to teach ag ed, but they want to have the convenience of being able to be in the city or very close to the city to have those opportunities and not be in the middle of nowhere, right? Especially if they're single, male or female, um, or if they're married because there's limited career opportunities for their significant other to be out there in those rural parts of our nation.
SPEAKER_05:The the other one, I'm mentioning even that the you know, if you have a spouse and they don't have opportunity, the the other piece of it is a lot of folks concerned about the time cost of these jobs, right? When you talk about a large animal vet, there is just more time on the road.
SPEAKER_01:Yep.
SPEAKER_05:Um, they have to go out and do more for longer periods of time. And and really in a clinic, people are coming to you, spending that time on the road, they come to you. Uh, and then you have all of the patients lined up one after another. So I I think there's just a whole situation going on in terms of, yeah, people don't want to be removed from the either excitement of the city and and the populace of it, or um opportunity for their spouse, for themselves, or they're just really not looking to put the time and put into being a large animal vet either. And so, yeah, that one I don't know what we do about it, but it's an important one to sort out sometime pretty soon. Yes.
SPEAKER_00:And and, you know, rural areas are really struggling to find vets.
SPEAKER_01:Right.
SPEAKER_00:And um, the vets that are out there are aging, they're wanting to be done, and you know, to start a practice is very expensive. And so, you know, I know I had a former state officer, his wife uh went to vet school at CSU and um started working for a veterinarian out in eastern Colorado. Um, an older gentleman, if I remember right, um, and was able to kind of take over. He was at the point where he wanted to be done and retire. And so she worked with him for a number of years and then was able to buy him out of the practice. So there are a lot of opportunities like that, um, I think for young people, if they have the the desire and are okay being in rural rural areas of our nation.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Um, and the same is true in in ag education. You know, we have a lot of rural schools that have huge problems getting ag teachers or keeping ag teachers. I was watching a TikTok actually last night, really quick. There's an ag teacher talking about how do we maintain, you know, whether what are the major factors for teacher retention and recruitment? And and I was reading through the comments, and you know, a lot of it is administrative support, parent support, community support, set, you know, family, uh, work-life balance and all these things. Um, but when I look at it, it is, I think the important piece is how do you get engaged within the community that you're at?
SPEAKER_01:Right.
SPEAKER_00:And that is not something people give you, but as an ag teacher, you have to take opportunities on. And and not every community, you're fit for every to live in every community. I get that. Right. But I also see ag teachers that will teach someplace for a year, go, oh my gosh, I don't like it here for whatever reason, and then move. And I'm not saying that's wrong, but I also sit there and say, you know, give that community, give that program, give those students an opportunity to see if it's truly a fit or not. Don't make that decision based on the fact that, hey, I'm single, there's nobody out here to date, and and I don't want to be single the rest of my life.
SPEAKER_01:Right.
SPEAKER_00:Right. Um, gee, I I enjoy my weekends and there's nothing to do out here.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:You know, um, those are those are challenges. And the fact that, you know, the work-life balance piece, I think is important. I didn't do a very good job of it as a teacher. Um, but I also think that there's a line to be drawn of how do you decide work-life balance? Um, you are paid, you know, whatever career, ag teacher, yeah, executive director of the beef council, I get I get paid, yeah, and I'm expected to get the job done.
SPEAKER_01:Right.
SPEAKER_00:And it doesn't matter if it takes me two hours or 200 hours.
SPEAKER_05:Got to get it done.
SPEAKER_00:I've got to get it done. And that I think is the biggest challenge. And and so when I think back to students in ag education and our FFA members, is just how do you develop that work ethic, that ability to get the job done no matter how long it takes, to the very best of your ability, um, is is an important aspect. And and I think across our society, we've lost that because I think a lot of younger generations want instant gratification. They're I'm not saying that they won't put in extra time, but it's like, hey, okay, this is done. You know, I it this should only take me, you know, so long to do. And I'm gonna do that, but I'm not gonna invest extra time in it to push it beyond what it can be. And and when I look back at at my experience in as state of FA advisor, um, you know, you can talk to any state staff, you know, you get paid a salary and and you're expected to get the job done. And it and some of those jobs, you know, putting on state convention. Um, you know, it's a three, three-day event, three and a half day event. Um, there's a lot of planning that takes place months and months ahead of that. But especially during that event, it is, you know, you're lucky to get six hours of sleep.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Um, as state staff, because you're not only the event time, but you have practice rehearsal, you have taken care of of every other aspect of that event um when you're not doing the other things. And then your brain is also trying to make sure that you've got everything accomplished. Right. And and it may, you know, it's a lot of time, and it's a lot of work and a lot of effort, but every job should take that amount of time and work and effort if you're truly passionate about what you're doing.
SPEAKER_05:Right. Yeah. You'll spend time thinking about it or or involved in that space outside of the the office hours, one way or another.
SPEAKER_00:Yep. And you could be with your family, you could be with your parents, you know, whatever the case is, and something may come across, you go, oh, I and you, you know, you start thinking about what it is, how that affects your job and relates to your job. Um, and so being able to, you know, I I think people talk about work-life balance and saying, okay, it, you know, five o'clock, it's all over. I'm done with thinking about work, right, etc. Now I'm gonna go focus on family. The truth of the matter is, is that those two things blend 24 hours a day.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah. I also speaking about that blend, there's you hear a lot about even like my ag teacher, Kelly, would would talk about how um Mrs. Rainbow, Ben's wife, would would come and uh she would supply either dinner while they're practicing or she would make sure that the team has things right. That she would just be around um either the meetings or on trips or whatever it may be, she was there to help and support too. And so there was a lot of more blending, even in terms of the life of the family being involved in AgAD itself, too. You know, that was just uh that was more normal. And I don't think that's as normal anymore for for advisors' families to really rally around and support.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and and part of that I think is really because of the economy, right? Sure. Um if both spouses have full-time jobs and they have a family, um, you know, that becomes some challenges to sit there and go, okay, yes, I, you know, I've I've just worked, you know, eight hours and and busy, and I've, you know, we have two or three kids to take care of. And you want me to, you know, kids are not feeling well or they're tired, grumpy, whatever the case is, and now I need to haul the kids to, you know, an FFA event with with my spouse, yeah, um, and take off work, perhaps, um myself. And so how do you how do you balance that? So it really becomes, you know, I I think we've also say we've lost it, it has just transitioned because I think when I look back at um teachers that were teaching before me, um, perhaps their spouses didn't work, um, like they do now. Um, I I think it was just a different time. And I'm not saying it was good, I'm not saying it was bad. Um, but I also believe that, you know, spouses can be involved uh as much or as little as they want to be. The important piece is that they're there to support their spouse no matter what. Because when you're coming back from an FFA event as an ag teacher, um as a state staff, you know, you you have those moments and you just want to, you know, be able to have somebody to talk to um that is not a parent, that is not a you know, an administrator, manager, etc., that you can just kick things back and forth. And and they're maybe not as closely connected to the situation. Right. And I think there's some value in that. Of course.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah. That's a good point. There, there's it is just different to look at the the position that people are in now, right? Where it's just even the family, the role of family members is is just a different expectation and a different want. So yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. You know, I you mentioned Ben Raymold going back to earlier. Um, so my high school, I had experience, I grew up in Fort Collins, three high school, three high schools in Fort Collins. At that time, there was a it was called the Larimer County Votech Center, uh, which is now Front Range Community College. And so all of the Larimer County schools fed into that for what we now call career and technical education.
SPEAKER_01:Right.
SPEAKER_00:And so when that meant is if I was a student at Fort Collins High School and I was taking an ad class, that ad class was maybe three hours long. Um, maybe I had to ride a bus if I didn't have, you know, if I didn't have my license. And it was only for 10th, 10th, 11th, and 12th grade students. Because not at that time, high school was only 10, 11, 12.
SPEAKER_05:Junior high would have been nine. Yep. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Yep. And so, number one, I was limited to three years of school experience, but I started my fresh sophomore year right before school started. They're like, hey, we're closing the ag program. You need to pick up four classes at your home high school. Um, so that was really challenging to do. That's two weeks before school started. I did that, and I was able to take some independent study ag classes because they were still teaching, finishing out the students that they had. And then over time, we were able to hire an ag teacher. There was uh my junior, junior year of high school, there's myself and two other guys in the ag program.
SPEAKER_01:Wow.
SPEAKER_00:Um, I never, yeah, I never participated in the creed contest.
SPEAKER_01:Really?
SPEAKER_00:I gave the creed, but it was never in a contest setting. Um, so that's why I waited two years after I graduated to run for state office because my SAE, I only had two years of records for my SAE.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah. Your state degree.
SPEAKER_00:Right. Wow. Get my state degree, plus my experiences. And so you mentioned Ben Rainbow. He was teaching at Valley High School at the time.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Um, so they were within our district. Um, and so when I went, when I went to get my state degree, um, the ag teacher that I had in high school was no longer there. Another teacher was there, didn't know this, how to do a state degree. So I worked closely with Mr. Rainbowt to get my state degree, which then in turn allowed me to be a state officer, which then in turn, you know, changed my career path to ag education, um, to the state, you know, advisor role, to this role. So when I look at, and I had an opportunity to speak to a class at CSU, you know, relationships and and how important relationships are, because you never know who those people you're going to meet, work with, et cetera, and how that experience is going to transform you in your direction of your life. And so when I think about everything that I've been able to do, my opportunities, I think back and I go, what would I be doing had there not been a Mr. Rainbow to help me get my state degree?
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Had I not been a state officer, you know, what would my career have been?
SPEAKER_01:That's a good point.
SPEAKER_00:And and so I I think I think it would have been successful. I just don't know what I would have been doing.
SPEAKER_04:Right.
SPEAKER_00:Right. Um and it wouldn't have been down this career path. It would have been down a different career path, which probably would have been just fine. But everything you do, the people you meet, the people you work with, the relationships you build, how that has an impact on the direction that you go. And you know, after you know, graduating high school a few years ago, yeah um, you know, every everybody tells young people, hey, your your buddies in high school probably are not, you're gonna be your lifelong friends, right?
SPEAKER_01:Right.
SPEAKER_00:Um, and it's hard for high school students to understand that. It's hard for high school students to get a good grip of how do I prepare myself now for my future. Right. And be okay if things change along the path. Because again, I graduated high school. My ag teacher at the time was like, hey, you need to be an ag ed teacher. And I was like, dude, you're crazy. Right. No way in heck do I want to be an ag teacher. That's how it always happens, right? Right. Yeah. Um, I'm gonna go ag business. And I want, you know, I I didn't know if that was gonna be in in finance or marketing or something, but that was gonna be my career path. And then, you know, things change, and you have other influences in your life that enable you to change the direction that you're going. So that would be my advice to young people is always, you know, be careful of uh, you know, sometimes we have bridges, right? And sometimes we want to destroy those bridges, those relationships with people. Be careful because you never know when those are gonna come get you. I also looked back and and go, you know, one of the best experiences I had as a state officer was uh one of my teammates, Don Thorne.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And I didn't know him until we were state officers. Um ended up, you know, being ag teachers together. Um fast forward 13, 14, 15 years later, I'm the state advisor, and the state of faith foundation is hiring hiring him to become the foundation director.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And then, you know, what we were able to build because of our relationship to build the the foundation.
SPEAKER_01:Right.
SPEAKER_00:I look back at uh, you know, John Staley, the current foundation director. He and I, you know, taught high school ag together for five years, had a great time.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Um, so those relationships that you build both early on and later in life are extremely important.
SPEAKER_05:It's a really good piece of advice, and it's it's neat to see how that played out in your life specifically. I mean, that is weird to think about. I'd I uh I always knew that you and Don were teammates, but I never realized that you guys really didn't keep hand in hand or you know, it was just split off and taught ag separate and then kind of did things separate, and then tell it was when he got hired on that you guys really came back together and working in that setting. Um, that's really cool. Yeah just the way everything played out.
SPEAKER_00:Well, and I I had interviewed at uh Platte Valley High School two years prior to when I started teaching. Yeah. Um, didn't get the job. Um and so two years later, John Staley calls me and says, Hey, we've got this opening again, really want you to apply. And I'm like, dude, I did once. You didn't hire me. You know, what what do you want me to do? Um and and luckily, you know, both he and I, neither one of us, burned that bridge, right? Because I I could have, you know, after I applied for the job originally gone, you know, heck with them. Sure, you know, I'm never gonna look at them again. Um, but instead, and the and I went there and was there for five years and had a had a great time. Um and and go back today, and you know, there's the the current teacher there uh was is Desiree Weber, who student taught um under me there at Platte Valley as well, and then took my position and she's been there ever since. So um it's it's really interesting how those relationships that you have and you build will continue on throughout your life. And and sometimes you won't stay in constant contact with folks, right? But making sure that you don't blow up the bridge, right? You may not be crossing the bridge very often, right, but don't put a stick of dynamite to it no matter what. Because you never know down the road how they're how how you're gonna need those people.
SPEAKER_05:Of course.
SPEAKER_00:To help you.
SPEAKER_05:That's good advice. Well, looking at the recording time here, I don't want to take your whole day up and I'm sure you got some other business to go attend to here. So Yeah, this has been fun. Yeah, thanks for coming on. Yeah, it's been a lot of fun. I I mean, it's always fun to talk about production ag and animal ag and all of that stuff, but even just the last 20 minutes here has been really fun to hear uh more about you know, yourself and how how your life played out with AgED. How um how you got to where you are, yes, but also so much about just what we were just talking about with relationships has played a huge factor in that. It's been amazing to hear and a lot of fun to have you on.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I appreciate that. And I, you know, Ag Ed has a special place in my heart. FFA does too. It's afforded me a ton of opportunities. It's afforded my family a ton of opportunities. Um and the experience of I experiences I had in Ag Ed, both as a student and as a teacher, as state staff, were some of the greatest experiences in my life. And um, you know, times are hard for teachers and it's challenging. Um, you know, don't get paid a lot and have a have a lot of issues, but the going back to the relationships that I said earlier, the relationships you create with students um that will last a lifetime uh are amazing. And you know, if you were doing no matter what career you go into, if you enjoy it, you're probably doing the purpose that you're set out to do. And I think the key to life is trying to figure out what is our purpose on this earth and how can we fulfill that.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And and if you can do that, you're gonna be happy, and if you're happy, you're gonna be successful. But thank you. Appreciate that. Thanks for coming on.
