Tuesday, Aug. 27, 1:05 p.m.
Global Market Overview
Dan Basse serves as the president of AgResource Company, a domestic and international agricultural research firm located in Chicago. AgResource forecasts domestic and world agricultural price trends and provides information and research to farmers, elevators, soy and corn processors, wheat millers, food companies, trading companies, importers, exporters and meat packers. Dan is an economist that has been in the commodity business since 1979. Raised on a dairy and grain farm in Waukesha, Wis., he has a keen sense of production agriculture, and he graduated from the University of Wisconsin - Madison in 1979 with a master’s in agriculture economics. In 1988, Dan founded AgResource Company to serve the needs of the U.S. and the world agricultural community. He often quoted on CNBC, The Wall Street Journal and many other publications.
Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2:00 p.m.
Too Much Quality?
As president for the Certified Angus Beef ® brand, John Stika guides grassroots programs to deliver premium beef from family farmers and ranchers to consumers’ dinner tables. He has led the brand through 12 consecutive years of record sales, helping to satisfy growing demand for great-tasting beef in 17,500 restaurants and grocery stores worldwide.
John grew up on a small, family farm in central Kansas, and earned a bachelor’s and a master’s degree from Kansas State University and doctorate in meat science from the University of Kentucky. He came to the brand in February 1999 as director of feeder-packer relations, and then director of packing and supply development. Moving on to vice president of business development, he led sales growth through retail, foodservice, international and value-added products before becoming president in November 2006.
Through his expertise and experience from gate to plate, John has served as a board member of the American Meat Science Association, and is actively engaged in beef quality and related committees of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. John received the Outstanding Young Alumnus award in 2010 from K-State’s College of Agriculture and the Achievement award from the American Meat Science Association. He and his wife, Deanna, have three college-aged sons and reside in Creston, Ohio, where they care for a small herd of Angus cattle and other livestock.
Tuesday, Aug. 27, 6:45 p.m.
Millennials, Gen Xers and Boomers, Oh My
Rodd Welker, a human relations expert, offers a unique blend of corporate, higher education, and nonprofit leadership and administration. Rodd has vast experience in leading and empowering others, maximizing their potential and performance. Traveling across the country, Rodd facilitates leadership development for companies and organizations and provides executive coaching for top execs, as well as emerging leaders.
He has more than 30 years of experiencing with educating employees and students, including teaching collegiate classes in business, leadership and adult development. His experience also includes seven years as a college basketball coach. As president of Eagle Advisor Group, Rodd is a licensed professional business coach, and certified trainer and facilitator, providing one-on-one advising, group and executive coaching, workshops and seminars in a variety of topics, and is a specialist in strategic planning, executive leadership development and adventure-based teambuilding. As an entrepreneur, Rodd owns Mooey’s Frozen Yogurt with two locations.
Rodd is a member of the West Liberty University Gary E. West College of Business and Whit’s End Advisory Boards; serves on the Board of Directors for the Wayne County Community Federal Credit Union; and on the Leadership Wooster steering committee for the Wooster Area Chamber of Commerce. Rodd is also a member and past president of the Wayne Area Human Resource Association.
Rodd holds a master’s degree in student development and higher education administration from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from West Liberty University.
Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2:45 p.m.
Carcass Grading Today and Tomorrow
Dr. Dale Woerner earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in animal science, meat and food industry management from Texas Tech University in 2003 and 2005, respectively, and earned his Ph.D. animal science/meat science from Colorado State University in 2009. He served on the faculty at Colorado State University for nine years, and recently joined the faculty at Texas Tech University as the Cargill Endowed Professor in sustainable meat science. Dale serves as a member of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association’s Beef Innovations Group and is a member of the American Meat Science Association Board of Directors.
In 2013, Dale was selected by Vance Publishing as a “40 Under 40” honoree as a young leader in the agricultural industry contributing to the 2050 challenge, the challenge of feeding 9 billion people by 2050. His other achievements include Top Ten Industry Leaders for 2014 by Cattle Business as a “Difference Maker;” Horizon Award Recipient by Texas Tech in 2014; American Meat Science Associations Achievement Award in 2015; American Society of Animal Sciences with the Early Career Achievement Award in 2018, as well as a Distinguished Alumni by the TTU College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. Additionally, in 2018, Dr. Woerner was selected by the American Meat Science Association membership to be the chairman of the Reciprocal Meat Conference, and, most recently, he was awarded the North American Meat Institute’s 2018 Harry L. Rudnick Educator's Award. Dr. Woerner’s research and teaching program is focused on meat quality, meat flavor chemistry, carcass value optimization, product shelf life and packaging, production efficiency, and meat nutrition.
Wednesday, Aug. 28, 8:00 a.m.
Consumer Beef Buzz
Anne-Marie Roerink is a principal for 210 Analytics, LLC, where she helps provide customized research with a specialty in food retailing for clients, such as the North American Meat Institute, Food Marketing Institute, National Grocers Association and many others. Through countless consumer studies, Anne-Marie has developed an excellent perspective on the ever-changing wants and needs of the meat consumer in a one-size-fits-no-one world. She understands the challenges and opportunities in the food and meat business today, as well as the drivers of success tomorrow. Prior to founding 210 Analytics, Anne-Marie served as the head of research for the Food Marketing Institute. She also designs and authors the annual “Power of Meat” study, along with similar studies in produce, deli prepared, frozen, SmartFood, bakery, candy and other categories.
Wednesday, Aug. 28, 8:45 a.m.
Liver Abscesses: New Thinking on an Old Topic
Dr. Scott B. Laudert has been working in the cattle nutrition industry his whole life. Dr. Laudert received his bachelor’s in animal science from North Dakota State University (1973), his master’s in Animal Nutrition from Kansas State University (1974) and his Ph.D. in ruminant nutrition from Colorado State University (1981). Dr. Laudert served as a cooperative extension livestock specialist with Kansas State University for a number of years before joining Lilly Research Laboratories in 1988. While there, he conducted new beef cattle product research. He then began working as an Elanco Animal Health beef technical consultant, interacting with producers, veterinarians and nutritionists regarding products related to feedlot, stocker and cow-calf nutrition.
Dr. Laudert formally retired in 2009 but continued working parttime, assisting Micronutrients USA LLC on various studies and contributing to BEEF magazine. Laudert currently resides in Colorado with his wife, Marva. He is the owner of SBL Technical Consulting, offering beef cattle research and technical services on an as-requested basis.
Wednesday, Aug. 28, 10:00 a.m.
Innovations in Animal Health Diagnosis
Dr. John Richeson is currently an associate professor of animal science and faculty supervisor of the Research Feedlot at West Texas A&M University. He teaches several undergraduate and graduate courses, serves on numerous university and professional committees, and is an advisory board member of four different industry organizations. Dr. Richeson received his bachelor’s, master’s and Ph.D. in animal science from Oklahoma State University (2000), Texas Tech University (2004) and University of Arkansas (2011), respectively. Research interests include evaluating management, nutritional, and immunological manipulations to improve health and growth of stocker and feedlot cattle. Additional research efforts have focused on evaluation of biomarker and behavior technology to assist in the prediction and early detection of bovine respiratory disease.
Wednesday, Aug. 28, 11:00 a.m.
Implant Considerations at the Ranch and Feedyard
While eating breakfast, after walking another bean field, Robbi Pritchard’s attention was captured by a spot on the 6 a.m. radio farm show announcing a production agriculture degree from Black Hawk East Jr. College. Robbi decided to take the opportunity. After nine years of course work, a bachelor’s and master’s in animal science from Southern Illinois University, a doctorate in cow nutrition from Washington State and post-doctorate work at Texas Tech, he accepted an assistant professorship at South Dakota State University (SDSU). Although the position took him far west from that bean field, it moved him back to his roots in feedlot research. For 34 years, Robbi’s focus was on areas where the beef industry leaves money on the table: calf management, bunk management, growth efficiency and carcass traits. In 2005, he was the 19th recipient of the Distinguished Professor award at SDSU. Stepping away from academia in 2017, he started Annawan Cattle, LLC, to work with feedlots and universities to address production challenges in the cattle industry. He and his wife, Terry, run a small Angus-based cowherd in Aurora, S.D.—the remnants of a good run as 4-H parents. Robbi is a member of the American Society of Animal Science and the Plains Nutrition Council.
Wednesday, Aug. 28, 11:45 a.m.
The Capability of Traceability
Joe Leathers has been an employee of 6666 (Four Sixes) Ranch for 20 years and has served as the general manager since 2008. Joe is an accomplished horseman and cattleman who understands agriculture from the ground up. Reared as the son of a small rancher and cotton farmer, Joe spent his summers and after-school activities in the fields of home. After college, Joe considered sleeping on the ground as a step up from hoeing cotton, so he left the farm and pursued ranching. Over his lifetime, Joe has worked for both yearling and cow-calf operations. Joe’s greatest accomplishment is his marriage of 42 years, and a family of four children and 11 grandchildren. Joe has the heart of a servant and, as a result, serves in many capacities and organizations. Joe is heavily involved in agricultural organizations, including serving as the director of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, for which he has chaired numerous committees, and as the co-chair of the Producer’s Council for the Cattle Traceability Working Group.
Main Event Host
As the supply programs manager for the Certified Angus Beef ® brand, Kara Lee coordinates marketing and training initiatives for cattle farmers and ranchers. She also teaches distributors, chefs and retailers about daily cattle care on family farms that’s necessary to raise high-quality beef. Through hands-on farm and feedyard experiences, Kara helps people selling Certified Angus Beef ® brand products increase their beef knowledge and appreciate the dedication of our family ranchers.
Kara’s pride in the beef community began as a youth on her parent’s Angus cattle farm in southern Indiana. Then, while earning her bachelor’s degree in agricultural communications and community leadership at the University of Kentucky, she gained greater passion for the beef community by working in the university’s meat lab. Following graduation in 2009, she joined the brand’s staff by assisting foodservice and retail customers with marketing solutions. She soon had the opportunity to put her expertise into action on the supply development staff. Kara resides in Leavenworth, Kan., with her husband, Brian, on a small farm where they raise Angus cattle.
