2011 National Cattleman’s Beef Association Convention: Rocky Mountain Round-up

This week the KSU Collegiate Cattle Women, along with many other cattle producers and members of the beef industry, will be attending the annual NCBA convention in Denver, CO.

Last year was my first trip to the NCBA convention which was held in San Antonio, TX and I had a blast! I had so much fun that I made it a priority to attend again this year.  It was a great chance for me to catch a glimpse of the large scope of the cattle industry as well as network with other producers and potential employers. When you attend events such as these, you can always be sure that there will great entertainment, speakers, and food! Last year the author of the book and movie “Pursuit of Happiness”, was the opening speaker. Our group was able to attend the “Best of Beef Breakfast” where we had stacks of delicious pancakes and our trip was topped off with a night of entertainment with Baxter Black!

Part of the gang last year with Chris Gardiner, the author of the Pursuit of Happiness.

This year will set the stakes high again with the opening speaker being Richard Picciotto, who is the Chief of the New York Fire Department and the highest ranking fire fighter to survive the World Trade Center Collapse.  He is also the author of  the book “Last Man Down”.

Baxter Black will be joining us once again this year at the Best of Beef Breakfast. During the breakfast, the best-of-the-best in the cattle industry will be recognized.

Other events to attend include a Tailgate Party at Invesco Field (home of the Denver Broncos), an appearance by Larry the Cable Guy, and A Boot, Scoot and Boogie after party full of dancing and socializing! 

While we will have lots of fun we will also get the chance to learn a thing or two at Cattleman’s College.  Cattleman’s College is an opportunity for producers to learn about subjects such as AI (artificial insemination) and other reproductive strategies as well as Beef Quality Assurance.

I will try to post some pictures of our group at the convention later this week!  Hope to see some of you there…I know I will be meeting up Crystal from the blog Crystal Cattle at the Angus Association booth!

Pictures from the 201o NCBA Convention…

New adventures in the life of Lyndi…

I have always been one to try new things and I feel like I have had many firsts over the last year:

• I have bought my first “real” camera and fallen in love with the world or photography. 
• I moved myself into a new house without the help of my mom. She  is a professional mover and even though I was proud of myself for dominating this task by myself, I have an enormous amount of respect for her moving our entire family several times over the course of my life.
• I learned how to palpate cows to see if they are pregnant or not. This is actually quite fascinating…believe it or not!

My current “first” is my new friend Jack.  Jack is a seven year old horse that I am learning how to ride once a week! Even though I grew up around cattle, my family doesn’t own any horses. Whenever we move cattle we use four wheelers to make sure they stay together and none of them wonder off.  In March, I will be going to Nebraska to do an internship with Heartland Cattle Company, a cattle operation that primarily works with feeding and breeding heifers for producers across the country.  My goal behind the horse lessons is to learn basic management, handling, and riding skills  before I go to Nebraska.  So far I have learned how to clean Jack’s hooves, put his saddle on, lunge him (make Jack trot in circles so he can warm up before I ride him), and trot around the arena with Jack following my commands.

I will try to post a picture of me and Jack after my next lesson on Monday!

A day on the ranch…

With less than 2% of the population being involved in American agriculture, it is now more critical than ever that we are educating the public. A couple of weeks ago, I attended a conference on reproduction, calving, and calf-care in cow-calf herds at the Vet School on the KSU campus. Dr. Dan Thompson gave a presentation and began with a story that I think explains the importance of consumer education in a society where the majority don’t know where their food comes from.

There was a rancher and a consumer talking to one another and the rancher asked if he had ever eaten cow tongue. The consumer replied, “No” and was astonished that someone would eat something from a cow’s mouth! The rancher then asked, “Have you ever eaten eggs?” “Of course”, said the consumer. The rancher began to laugh and said, “You do know where eggs come from right?”

While it is important to educate today’s consumers, I have always felt that it is equally or more important to educate the up and coming consumer – children. If we can teach these children about Agriculture at a young age, they will more than likely pass that knowledge on to their children. Also, most times when you are educating children, the parents end up getting something out of it too. This summer at our county fair, we had a Kiddy Barnyard exhibit where children could come through with their parents to look at the farm animals while also learning fun facts about agriculture. This was a free event with ice cream and take home goodie bags that had candy with farm facts on them, coloring pages, recipes for the parents, and other fun things!

Today, a little boy came out to the ranch for the day. He is the son of close family friends and lives  in town.  I always enjoy when he comes out for the day because he gets so excited about the little things I take for granted sometimes like, checking the cows’ water and riding in the “tractor”. 

 

He loves rides on the “tractor” checking cows with John. He always wears his boots when he comes to the ranch!

Being curious…

There is always time to play…

Update of the happenings on the Ranch…

As you have all probably noticed, since I have returned to school pictures of cows and calves have been rather sparse on the blog!  I have been trying to persuade my Dad to take the digital camera along with him when he is feeding and hauling water to the cows  so I can post new pictures! However, I have not been successful yet. I think it is going to take a little more encouragement from me to get this task accomplished. My Dad is not the camera type!

As a result, I will have to update as best I can in the meantime.  Currently, there are babies EVERYWHERE!  Today, Dad moved some of the older baby calves to stalks. Let me clarify: when I say stalks, I am referring to the milo stalks that are left over from milo harvest in the Fall. There are stalks (stem of the milo plant), leaves, and some milo (grain) left behind after harvest that the cows really enjoy in the winter time.

These aren’t our cows, but I wanted you to see a picture so you could get the main idea! Don’t be fooled, just because the stalks are brown doesn’t mean that they aren’t nutritious! The stalks are actually  full of all the nutrients a cow needs!

The younger calves and their mamas are still at the house on a grass patch.  They will stay there until they are old enough to go to stalks with the other cows and calves.

That is all I have for now. I am keeping my fingers crossed that I will have pictures to share in the next few days. Mom may have to take the camera out if Dad doesn’t step it up! Hope everyone is staying warm!

Pioneer Woman’s Blackberry Cobbler

This is one of my favorite recipes by the Pioneer Woman. It’s fast, easy, and delicious! This recipe is also kid friendly, unlike most cobblers and only takes a few common ingredients that you will likely have on hand in your kitchen.

My mom used this recipe and substituted the blackberries for apricots. She took it to a church pot luck dinner and it was a big hit!

Give it a try and let me know what you think! As always, ENJOY!

Ingredients

• 1 stick Butter
• 1-¼ cup Sugar
• 1 cup Self-Rising Flour
• 1 cup Milk
• 2 cups Blackberries (frozen Or Fresh)

Note: You can use any kind of fresh or frozen fruit…I used frozen peaches and it was delicious!

Preparation Instructions

Melt butter in a microwavable dish. Pour 1 cup of sugar and flour into a mixing bowl, whisking in milk. Mix well. Then, pour in melted butter and whisk it all well together. Butter a baking dish.

Now rinse and pat dry the blackberries. Pour the batter into the buttered baking dish. Sprinkle blackberries over the top of the batter; distributing evenly. Sprinkle ¼ cup sugar over the top.

Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 1 hour, or until golden and bubbly. If you desire, sprinkle an additional teaspoon of sugar over the cobbler 10 minutes before it’s done.

Pictures taken by Ree Drummond – The Pioneer Woman.

This is a must see!!!

Brandi Buzzard posted this video on her blog and I wanted to pass it on to my readers! This is a great video that shares TRUE facts about the cattle industry, cattle production, nutritional benefits of beef, and shines the light on HSUS’s real intentions.  Yes, the video is 9 minutes long, but it is well worth your time!

Thanks Brandi for finding the clip!

Hope you all enjoy – let me know what you think about it!

It all started with a bottle of Yellow Tail wine…

Those of you who have been reading will remember me mentioning Troy Hadrick in yesterday’s post. If you have no idea what I am talking about, go back and read yesterdays post…

Troy Hadrick is a rancher in South Dakota who took it upon himself to tell Yellow Tail wine, in a big way, that he will no longer be buying their wine because of their support towards HSUS (Humane Society of the United States).  As a response to Yellow Tail, he filmed a 54 second clip of him with his cows pouring the bottle of wine onto the ground. 

The story doesn’t end there…he posted the video on YouTube (linked below) and a gentleman from Furniture Row watched it and decided he wanted to help! That is how “Farm American” came about.  Furniture Row decided to sponsor a race car but instead of showcasing their company on the car, the side reads “Farm American – cultivating the future”.  The car has competed in many NASCAR races.

You can visit their website at www.farmamerican.com.  One of the neat features of the website is called “Food for Thought”.  Different facts flash across the screen about Agriculture such as – Agriculture is the largest employer in the country responsible for more than 22 million jobs. 

Troy Hadrick also has a blog that you may want to check out at www.advocatesforag.com.  He talks about different ways and ideas for you to share you story, hot topics in Ag., different ideas for blog posts, etc.

Hope everyone has a great start to their week tomorrow!

Does Agriculture need a spokesman?

At the Farm Bureau annual meeting press conference, Mike Rowe  was recently asked if he would be willing to be a spokesman for American Agriculture.  His response – he doesn’t think we need a spokesperson; what we need are advocates, many of them.  He believes that we, the American farmers and ranchers, are the spokesmen and women that the industry needs.

Mike Rowe explained that the farmers and the ranchers are the professionals who feed 3 million people 3 times a day – we should be the ones telling OUR story! 

He will continue to be a supporter of American Agriculture and will help us tell our story, but he doesn’t want to do it in a traditional way. People don’t respond well to speakers behind a podium; he thinks we need to be everything but traditional in order to catch the attention of the 3 million people our industry feeds every day.  He used the example of his Dirty Jobs episode where he castrated a lamb using his teeth because it was the way the people in Colorado did it…now that will start some conversations!  (although he was not advocating that all of you should go out and castrate a lamb with your teeth…)

Tomorrow, I will tell you about gentleman named Troy Hadrick who took 54 seconds to share his story in response to Yellow Tail wine supporting HSUS.

In the mean time…I want to encourage all of my readers to brainstorm ways you can tell you story; maybe it’s visiting a local grade school, starting your own blog, posting a video on YouTube…ANYTHING!

Fraudulent McDonald's Rumor

A false rumor about McDonald's once again is circulating via e-mail and the Internet. The rumor claims McDonald's refuses to buy U.S. beef, and imports potentially unsafe beef from South America. The e-mail asks recipients to boycott McDonald's.

This rumor has been circulating in various forms for at least seven years.  The e-mail claims to be from the Texas Cattle Feeders Association (TCFA). This is not true and some time ago TCFA issued the following statement in regard to the rumor:

"Texas Cattle Feeders Association is not connected in any way with the email you received. The email, which has been in wide circulation in various forms for several years now, makes a false claim when it identifies Texas Cattle Feeders Association as the original source of the message. No such message has ever been put out by our organization. Unfortunately, we do not know the identity or motive of the person or persons making this improper use of our name." 

The e-mail also represents Dr. David Forrest at Texas A&M University as the e-mail originator. This also is untrue. Dr. Forrest does not know how his name got associated with the rumor and, in regard to the e-mail, Dr. Forrest has said:

"I had nothing to do with composing this e-mail, the information it contains is false, and I do not support any of the actions called for in the e-mail."

The United States has traditionally been the largest customer for beef from Australia, New Zealand, Central America and Uruguay. Almost all of these imports are in the form of lean trim used either in quick-service hamburgers or case-ready frozen hamburger.

All plants that export beef to the United States are approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and must maintain the same (equivalent) Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) standards as U.S. packing plants. USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service regularly audits these facilities.

More information about the e-rumor can be found at the following links:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/mcdbeef.asp

http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/f/foreignbeef.htm

 

Humane Society of the United States – Spending Revealed

Almost everyone can probably recall seeing the commercials on TV with the sad, depressing music and pictures of dogs and cats flashing across the screen.  Some of the animals appear to be mistreated, hurt, neglected and sick.  At the end of the commercial they ask for you to call their number and donate money to save the pets.  DO NOT FALL FOR IT!

In a recent issue of the Kansas Cattleman’s Association News there was an article about HSUS spending and how those dollars that are donated are really spent. 

“HSUS SPENDS NEARLY HALF OF EVERY DOLLAR DONATED ON FUNDRAISING AND OVERHEAD COSTS”, the Center for Consumer Freedom reported.  The data comes form an analysis of HSUS’ 2009 federal tax return by Animal People News.

Center for Consumer Freedom did their own analysis and found that FEWER THAN 1% OF HSUS DONATIONS FROM THE PUBLIC GO TO ANIMAL SHELTERS.

After reading this article, this is my advice: If you are someone who likes to donate money to organizations that help animals, donate your money to a local animal shelter.  The money will go directly to the shelter and it will all be used to benefit the animals! DO NOT FALL INTO THE TRAP OF HSUS!

- The information used for this post was courtesy of Dani Friedland, meatingplace.com. -

Calves love to play…even when it’s cold out!

It’s 15 degrees out but feels like –5….I checked weather.com – I am not making this up! Even with these cold temperatures, the calves are staying warm and were out playing this morning! We let the new babies outside this morning for some fresh air and they are snuggled down deep in a bed of hay. I just went out to check on them and they are laying right by their mamas, all you can see is their little heads poking out of the hay!  There is nothing cuter than new baby calves (I might be a little bias…)!

Moving around round bale feeders to the fresh hay…

 

Taking the netting off the hay bale…

Staying warm behind the wind break…

Running and playing in the snow…

Running!

Let it snow, let it snow…

Well it’s 9:30 PM and the snow has begun! Around here, when it snows everyone prepares for the storm – not because of the amount of snow but because of the wind! In SW Kansas, trees are few and far between so we have to build wind breaks.  The baby calves will stay a lot warmer if they can get out of the wind and stay somewhat dry. You see in the pic below that we use hay bales…

There are still baby calves being born but thankfully we have a calving barn to put the newborns in to keep them warm and out of the weather for the first day or so after they are born.  When the weather is nice, they stay outside and keep plenty warm in beds of hay.

Tonight, 3 pairs (babies and mamas) and 9 cows are in the barn.  We put any cows in the barn we think might calve in the night so we can be sure the babies will be able to dry off and not get too cold.  We will get up a couple of times tonight to be sure the cows and calves are doing okay and there aren’t any new babies.

I will post some pictures tomorrow of the babies playing in the snow!

Maple Pecan Scones…from the Pioneer Woman’s Kitchen!

Tonight I made these scones with my cousin, CeAnn, and they are TO DIE FOR!  They are really simple and have a fast prep time (30 minutes!) – perfect to make for breakfast or afternoon tea with the girls! Hope you enjoy them as much as we did!

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups All-purpose Flour
• ¼ cups Sugar (maple, If You Have It!)
• 1-¼ teaspoon Baking Powder
• ¼ teaspoons Baking Soda
• ¼ teaspoons Salt
• ½ cups Butter, Cold And Cut Into Pieces
• ½ cups Pecans, Toasted And Chopped
• ⅔ cups Buttermilk
• 2 Tablespoons Maple Syrup (grade B)

TIP: We didn’t have heavy whipping cream on hand so I substituted 1 part milk and 1 part yogurt (to total 3/4 c.).

STEPS:

Preheat oven to 400F. Line a baking sheet with parchment and place the rack in the upper third or upper half of the oven. This will hopefully help prevent the bottom from browning too quickly.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the flour until the mixture becomes coarse crumbs. Stir in the chopped nuts. In a small measuring cup, combine the buttermilk and maple syrup, then add to the flour mixture. Stir just until combined; do not overmix or the scones will not be as light and fluffy.

Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead the dough gently four or five times, just to complete the mixing process. Pat the dough into a circle about 7″ round and 1 1/2″ thick. Cut in half, then cut each half into 4 pie-shaped wedges. You will have 8 scones. Place the scones on the baking sheet, slightly pulled apart, maybe 1/2″ space between them. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack to cool.

Serves: 8

Fueled by BEEF!

Hello everyone! Today I want to direct your attention to a really neat, new blog… http://fueledbybeef.com.

Wrenn Pacheco is a wife, photographer, runner and has a huge heart for the BEEF industry.  Follow her on her blog to learn how BEEF fuels her body for running and the realms of everyday life!  I can’t wait to try her BEEF recipes and read her posts!

CHECK IT OUT:  http://fueledbybeef.com

All you need to know about a Porterhouse Steak!

One of my fetishes is watching the Food Network. It amazes me how many nifty tricks and tips you can pick up from America’s top chefs…for free! Last night I was watching Good Eats. I usually don’t watch that particular show but when they started talking about BEEF and the PORTERHOUSE STEAK it caught my attention! I am including the YouTube links for the episode at the bottom of this post; it’s a must watch! They cover everything from how to select cuts of meats at the meat counter and what buzz words like grass-fed and natural mean; to how to prepare, marinade, and cook a steak!  WOW! Trust me, your mouth will be watering by the time you finish part one of the episode! ENJOY!

Good Eats - Porterhouse Steak, Part 1   What is a Porterhouse Steak???

Good Eats - Porterhouse Steak, Part 2   How to select meat at the meat case and what those “buzz words” mean…

Good Eats - Porterhouse Steak, Part 3   How to prepare, marinade, and grill!

Happy Monday!

It’s Monday afternoon, about 4:00PM, and the sun finally came out! Temperatures got above freezing this afternoon so the snow is starting to melt off.  It’s been a busy morning at the ranch. We tagged baby calves (an ear tag that allows us to identify each calf, every calf is assigned a specific number), doctored a sick baby, and had two more calves born! The baby calves have spent the day snuggled down in the hay to stay warm; I reached down to pet one this afternoon and it’s coat felt pretty cozy!

Anytime we have new baby calves it’s critical that the mother gets them licked off so their hair coat will dry and the baby begins nursing right away.  The first milk the baby drinks following birth is full of many essential nutrients to help the calf get off to a good start and stay healthy.  At our ranch, as soon as a calf is born, we move the baby and it’s mama to their own pen for at least 12 hours to ensure the calf stays warm in hay, the calf nurses, and the cow and calf bond.

Dad moving the cow and calf to their own pen…

Dad carrying the baby to a warm pile of hay…

The cow and calf arrive to the pen they will stay in for the next few hours.

This is a picture of the second calf that was born today.  This was taken a few minutes after birth; you can see the calf is still wet and the mama is licking it off.

Getting to know one another…

The calf that was born yesterday… The red ear tag tells us information about it’s mother and the white one tells us information about it’s father. You can see that both tags have the same large number; that is the calf’s “identity”.

Sunday afternoon…

It has been chilly here, but mother nature has been kind to us by keeping the wind down.  Even when temperatures are low, calves can stay warm by lying in hay and absorbing the warmth from the sunlight reflecting off their black coats.  Only a few calves have been born so far, but we should see many more here in the next week or two.

Peeking through the hay bale feeder at me…

Tagging-a-long behind one of the mamas…

One of the heifer (female) calves…

Sport, the cow dog, thinks he helping me take pictures by rounding up the cows…

One of the bull (male) calves…

New Years Traditions….Start off the new year right with a little luck and Black Eyed Peas.

With most of my Mom’s family originating from the south, Texas more specifically, Black Eyed Peas are always a part of our new years traditions.  Supposedly if you eat them on New Year’s day, it will bring you good luck for the next year.  I found this recipe on the Pioneer Woman site, whom I am sure you have all figured out is my new hero, and I am anxious to give it a try!

This is one of the more basic black eyed pea recipes, she also has one for a delicious dip that looks amazing too!

What are some of your family’s traditions? Happy New Year and Enjoy! lj

http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen-blog/

http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen-blog/