Practically Ranching

Send us Fan Mail

Dr. Stephen Koontz is a Professor and Economist in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at Colorado State University, specializing in agricultural commodity markets, agribusiness, and risk management.

In this episode, we talk about beef industry infrastructure, packer concentration, imports, price discovery of fed cattle and changing technology in the valuation of feeder cattle.

Links:

https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-498yg-1b86543 - Working Ranch Radio episode

stephen.koontz@colostate.edu

Send us Fan Mail

Jeremy Kinder is the owner and operator of 6K Ranch near Faxon, Oklahoma, along with his wife Katy and four children. Currently, the operation consists of a commercial cow/calf and stocker cattle business.

Jeremy graduated from Oklahoma State University with a bachelor’s degree in Animal Science. After graduation, he worked in the registered Angus and Red Angus industry managing various herds from Colorado to Oklahoma.

He currently serves as the Southwest Area Vice-President of the Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association and President of the Tri-County Cattlemen’s Association. He also serves as a founding member of the Common Ground Coalition.

Send us Fan Mail

Ted Schroeder is a Distinguished Professor of Ag Economics at Kansas State University. His research on livestock marketing and price analysis provides information and direction for the livestock and grain industries. His research focuses on improving commodity market efficiency by investigating price discovery methods, improving market coordinating mechanisms, and applied risk management. Schroeder also teaches courses in marketing and risk management.

In this episode, we cover the recent Truth Social post announcing the Executive Order to waive quotas for up to 300 Million Metric Tons of beef for grinding in the U.S. We also cover the recent announcements of closures of Tyson beef plants, plus the challenges of today's small cowherd numbers for overall industry infrastructure.

Past episdoe:

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1995747/episodes/13838968

Contact info:

tcs@k-state.edu

785.532.4488

Send us Fan Mail

Joe Morgan is CEO of Poky Feeders, a custom cattle feeder in Scott County, KS.

He began feeding cattle after his graduation from Iowa State University in 1973. He began at Poky in 1985, and has grown the yard from a 17,000 head capacity to 103,000 one-time capacity today.

Joe serves as Vice-Chair of US Premium Beef and is a long time member of the Kansas Livestock Association and National Cattlemen's Beef Association.

Send us Fan Mail

Derrell Peel holds the Charles Breedlove Professorship of Agribusiness in the Department of Agricultural Economics. He has served as the Extension Livestock Marketing Specialist since 1989. His work focuses on livestock market situation and outlook and marketing/risk management education for producers.

Dr. Peel works in all areas of livestock production economics and marketing for all beef cattle production sectors. Additionally, he works on meat demand and meat supply chain issues and beef product marketing. He also works in the area of international cattle and beef trade and have particular expertise in the Mexican cattle and beef industry.

Send us Fan Mail

Dr. Kailey Fitzmorris is founding owner of Flyin 3 Vet Service, Eureka, KS. With additional locations in Moline and Cedar Vale, she has 4 additional veterinarians working with her in the practice.

Our Locations | Flyin’ 3 Veterinary Service in Kansas

Past podcast mentioned:

Dr. Miles Theurer https://www.buzzsprout.com/1995747/episodes/14655607

Send us Fan Mail

Dr. G. Cliff Lamb currently serves as the Director of Texas A&M AgriLife Research. Texas’ premier research agency in agriculture, natural resources and life sciences featuring 13 centers and faculty in 20 academic departments, a portfolio of more than 500 faculty programs and >$300 million in annual research expenditures.

He received his B.S. (1992) from Middle Tennessee State University and his M.S. (1996) and Ph.D. (1998) from Kansas State University. He served as Assistant (1998-2004) and Associate Professor (2004-2007) at the University of Minnesota followed by serving as a faculty member and the Assistant Director and Professor at the North Florida Research and Education Center at the University of Florida (2008-2017).

In 2017, Dr. Lamb was appointed as Head of the Department of Animal Science at Texas A&M University, where he served until his current appointment in 2022. Dr. Lamb maintains an active research program focused on applied reproductive physiology to enhance production efficiency of beef cattle operations.

In addition to the United States, Dr. Lamb has conducted experiments and implemented reproductive management strategies throughout the world including Australia, Argentina, Botswana, Brazil, Ethiopia, Hungary, Kenya, Malawi, Mexico, South Africa, Russia, Uruguay, and Zimbabwe.

Send us Fan Mail

Mark Gardiner is CEO of Gardiner Angus Ranch, Ashland, KS.

In this episode, we talk about the many challenges that wildfires have brought to Mark's region. Mark shares ways that they have overcome these challenges and grown stronger as a result.

Send us Fan Mail

Kendal Kay is CEO of Stockgrowers State Bank, Ashland, KS, where he has worked for 30 years. He is the former mayor of Ashland and played a key role in the donation and recovery efforts of the Starbuck Fire of 2017, one of the state's largest wildfires in recent history.

I caught up with Kendal while he was en route to visit victims of the yesterday's Ranger Road wildfire that burnt roughly 150,000 acres of Oklahoma and Kansas ranchland.

We talk about current status reports of the many fires in the region, plus what we can do to help victims.

Links:

Ashland Community Foundation Ashland Community Foundation

Kansas Livestock Association (785) 273-5115

Hay donation locations:
Ashland Feed & Seed Ashland Feed & Seed - Homepage

Shaw Feedyard - Ryan Koons, Manager - koonsr@outlook.com or 620.805.4682

Send us Fan Mail

Dr. Tom Carr is Professor Emeritus of the University of Illinois. After Serving on the faculty for 36 years as a Meat Scientist and Professor, he and his wife now make their home in his hometown of Medicine Lodge, KS.

Other podcast episodes referenced:

#22 - Diana Clark

Send us Fan Mail

Chandler Keys grew up on a family farm in Maryland. In addition to helping his family raise purebred Angus cattle and grow various grain crops, he was active in 4-H and other agriculture clubs. After earning his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland, Chandler held an entry level position with National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA). Over the next two decades, Chandler stayed with NCBA and moved up within the organization. He became the Vice President for Government and Industry Relations where he led the 20+ staff in the Washington DC office. Chandler then took his leadership to Swift & Company, later JBS, until he began Keys Group in 2012. Chandler and his family live in Maryland.

Send us Fan Mail

Carolyn Perrier is a ranch wife, mother of three and grandmother of nine. She is a servant in her community, a leader for countless organizations through the years, and most importantly... my mom.

On this episode, we talk about her journey from city to country life and the countless challenges and blessings along the way.

Past episode mentions:

Tom Perrier https://www.buzzsprout.com/1995747/episodes/12299829

Symphony in the Flint Hills https://www.buzzsprout.com/1995747/episodes/12898676

Send us Fan Mail

Justin McKee is a professional rodeo announcer, a cattleman, a communicator and a leader.

Raised in southeast Kansas, he now has a ranch near Hico, TX, and is a commentator on the Cowboy Channel, as well as announcing numerous rodeos across the nation. In addition, he puts on broadcasting clinics and leadership seminars to help others bring out their best.

https://www.justinmckeenow.com

Send us Fan Mail

Matt will go over the high-use sires in the Dalebanks 2025 sale offering, plus give an overview of the Perrier family's breeding program and genetic selection philosophies.

Don't miss the 2025 Sale, Saturday, November 22, at the ranch NW of Eureka, KS

Send us Fan Mail

Don Close is a senior animal protein analyst for Terrain Ag. He’s enjoying serving in leadership roles in the cattle industry and conducting research on a wide range of topics after overseeing the establishment of Terrain as the team’s first leader. Don’s prior experience includes his work as a senior animal protein analyst at Rabobank, and as a market director for the Texas Cattle Feeders Association, where he worked on all economic and market-sensitive policy issues for cattle feeders in Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico.

In his three decades of professional experience, Don has been a licensed commodity broker, handled risk management and pricing for large cattle operations, managed a grain procurement program, and published market updates and outlooks for cattle and hogs. Don earned his BS in agricultural economics from West Texas A&M.

Terrain | The Sneaky Barrier to Herd Expansion: Big Cows

Send us Fan Mail

Rich Blair is a beef producer from Sturgis, SD. The Blair family has grown a cowherd over the last 25 years that is focused on meeting demands for their own ranching operation, their genetics customers, the feeding industry and the beef consumer. In addition to the cowherd, Rich also has a commodity brokerage business, where he provides risk management tools for northern plains producers.

www.blairbrosangus.com

Send us Fan Mail

Jason Kraft is the Founder and CEO of Compass Ag Solutions, a Risk Management firm based in his hometown of Ft. Collins, CO. In addition, his family owns and operates Hilltop Hay and Livestock, a diversified family operation that offers high quality hay, cattle and beef to customers in Colorado’s Front Range.

We talk market risk, leverage, fed cattle price discovery and asset protection. Throughout his career, Jason has found ways to find solutions to market challenges. Whether it’s his work in commodity markets and risk management, hay and livestock production or their farm to fork beef business, the Kraft family knows how to turn challenges into opportunities.

Disclaimer - Positioning Agribusiness for Success

Agricultural Risk Management & Trading | Cattle Feeding

Home - Hilltop Hay and Livestock

LRP episode with Joe Kovanda: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1995747/episodes/13495752

Send us Fan Mail

Links:

National Cattlemen’s Beef Association

Beef Quality Assurance - BQA

Masters of Beef Advocacy

Environmental Stewardship Award Program

Stockmanship & Stewardship

Cattlemen’s College

Rancher’s Resilience Grant

U S Roundtable for Sustainable Beef

Josh White serves as the Sr. Executive Director - Producer Education & Sustainability for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA). He is a fourth-generation cattleman whose first experiences with cattle trace back to helping with his grandfather’s commercial Hereford cows in central Georgia as a child. By age twelve Josh had purchased his first heifer, began building his own herd and became a self-professed cattle nerd. After graduating with honors from Berry College (’95) in northwest Georgia with a degree in Animal Science, Josh worked in private industry and grew his cattle herd, while also serving as a volunteer leader in several county, state and national ag and cattle organizations.

In 2009 Josh took the opportunity to move from a volunteer leader role to full time industry service and joined the Georgia Cattlemen’s Association and Georgia Beef Board as Executive Vice President, serving there until joining NCBA in 2014. In his current role as Sr. Executive Director – Producer Education & Sustainability with NCBA, Josh and his team are working to capitalize on the rich histories of the Beef Quality Assurance, Masters of Beef Advocacy, Environmental Stewardship Award Program, Stockmanship & Stewardship, and Cattlemen’s College programs while moving these initiatives forward to deliver even greater value to NCBA members and the cattle industry. New programs like the Rancher’s Resilience Grant are a true passion for Josh and the team – finding ways to empower even more producers to participate in impactful educational opportunities. In addition to overseeing numerous programs, Josh provides leadership for NCBA’s policy funded sustainability efforts and supports beef checkoff funded efforts associated with sustainable cattle production.

Josh was recently awarded the Continuing Service Award by the Beef Improvement Federation for his passionate service to BIF over the past decade. He currently serves on the Beef Focus group for the USDA Meat Animal Research Center (Clay Center, NE) and on the Animal Science Advisory Council at his alma mater. He also represents NCBA on the U S Roundtable for Sustainable Beef and serves as co-chair of the Cattle Health & Welfare committee at the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef. Josh continues to own cattle on the family farm in Georgia. He and his wife of 29 years, Erin, live in Highlands Ranch, Colorado. Their three children are scattered around the country in early career or college, and they have one exceptional grandchild.

Send us Fan Mail

Marci Penner has served as executive director of Kansas Sampler Foundation since the formation of the 501c3. She has a unique perspective of Kansas having been to every one of the 627 incorporated cities several times for guidebook research.

Having a reason to observe, have conversations, and note common issues and differences led to the PowerUp Movement (empowerment of those 21-39 who are rural by choice) and the access to resources and topics for the Big Rural Brainstorm and We Kan! Conference. With the opportunity to do guidebook programs and speak at conferences, Marci enjoys the continual journey around the state. She thrives on matching those seeking guidance with resources and to bringing together Good Thinkers who use collective brilliance to move rural communities forward.
A graduate and double-sport letter-winner at the University of Kansas, Marci received her Master’s degree in Counseling and Guidance from the University of Wisconsin. She spent five years as an elementary guidance counselor in the Philadelphia area. She’s happy to be home on the family farm near Inman where the offices of the Kansas Sampler Foundation are located. Marci is dedicated to helping Kansans see Kansas with new eyes and to keeping our communities alive and thriving.

Kansas Sampler Foundation | Pursuing Everyone's Love for Kansas

978 Arapaho Road

Inman, KS 67546
620.960.0552
marci@kansassampler.org

Send us Fan Mail

Logan Thompson is an Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist of Sustainable Livestock Feeding at Kansas State University.

He grew up on a registered Hereford ranch in central Texas which instilled a passion to improve the sustainability of beef production by developing practical solutions for producers. Logan started his bachelor's degree at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, TX prior to completing his degree at Texas Tech University in 2015. Following this he earned a Masters in beef sustainability at Oklahoma State University in 2017 and a PhD in ruminant nutrition at Michigan State University in 2021. Prior to joining Kansas State University in August of 2022, he served as a post-doctoral fellow at Colorado State University.

Logan’s predominate research interest is in measuring greenhouse gas emissions in grazing systems and how grazing management impacts ecosystem function. Of particular interest in how the soil-plant-animal interrelationships are manipulated by management decisions. Additionally, his research examines how management decisions influence nutrient utilization within and across production systems. Logan's wife, Rachel, is also a science nerd and is a Senior Scientist in Ingredient Solutions R&D at MGP Ingredients in Atchison, KS.

Past Podcast references:

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1995747/episodes/14850913

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1995747/episodes/14176506

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1995747/episodes/12989654

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1995747/episodes/11378191

Links:

Frontiers | Is Climate Neutral possible for the U.S. beef and dairy sectors?