Cattle Q&A with the National Beef Ambassadors -

Progressive Cattleman caught up with three of this year’s ambassadors at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Trade Show in Tampa, Florida, to ask their ideas about the future of beef production.

Erin Morrison, 18, was raised on a Shorthorn operation from Belle Plaine, Minnesota, and attends Purdue University; Chandler Mulvaney, 19, of Opelika, Alabama raises Hereford heifers and goes to Chatahoochee Valley Community College; and Katie Stroud, 20, grew up on a Shorthorn cow-calf ranch in Adin, California, and attends Chico State University.

Q. What has attracted you to stay in the beef industry?

A. Chandler Mulvaney:
The beef industry is definitely a special place to be. I’ve actually been able to grow up in the beef community and see the benefits of staying committed to that one area, whether it’s raising cattle, feeding cattle in feedlots.

It all has benefits, connections and networks. I’ve been able to see my older sister and older brother grow up and see the benefits that they’ve been blessed with.

They have careers in the ag community, so it’s definitely that we’re able to grow, and stay in this community for a long time and then contribute back when we get to a certain age, especially with the beef ambassador program.

Q. Today’s generation finds it easier to work in the city with an urban job. Why stay in beef production if the work is so hard?

A. Erin Morrison:
With hard work comes a lot of rewards. By working hard we get so much out of it, and there are so many different opportunities within the beef industry.

I’m studying bio-chemistry, so I’m looking to go into research with the pharmaceuticals, which is a part of the beef industry, if not directly raising cattle.

What it really comes down to is the relationships in the community and beef industry. I recently called home, my dad’s in South Dakota and was at a sale, they’re all passing the phone around the table – all the breeders were asking me: how was school, how are you doing, what convention are you at?

There’s a real sense of pride at being a part of this family that everyone cares about what you’re doing.

It may be hard work, but we all go through it together and all connect on that level so I think it’s worth it just on the relationships we build, and common interests we have with amazing people who have a deep passion for the beef industry.

Q. What do you say to someone who is completely new to ranching, but wants to change their lifestyle. What’s the biggest warning or benefit to recommend?

A. Katie Stroud:
It really is a lifestyle, I think it’s very rewarding to stay in. I’m able to say my hobby is also my job. I get to do what I love to do every single day.

I love cattle, I’m obsessed with cattle, and so I actually get to raise them every day, that’s my job.

There’s a lot of deep roots and tradition, and I think that people come from the outside, maybe raised in the city – once you convey that message to them, they start to understand and sense the pride we have.

My biggest warning would be you don’t get vacations. It’s a 24/7, 365 days-a-year kind of job. If you have that passion for it, it’s easy.

In calving season, you have to stay up late at night and constantly check heifers to see they’re not having problems.

And if they are, you have to assist with that. That might not be everyone’s cup of tea but definitely cattlemen that have that passion and pride for what they do.

Q. Can you tell of an experience or moment that made you certain you wanted to stay in beef production?

A. Chandler Mulvaney:
Now that we’ve grown and progressed in the community I feel at a younger age we didn’t realize the full impact each individual can have.

Now, going through the experience with the beef ambassador team, seeing last year’s program and their team, made me realize that it’s a bond. It’s a team. It takes everybody that’s passionate about a common goal to make sure our message is delivered in the right way.

I definitely am on fire, and could do this forever. I constantly tell consumers we have a safe supply of beef, it tastes great, and it’s healthy for life.

A. Erin Morrison:
I had a lot of moments I was convinced I didn’t want to stay in the cattle industry. My dad travels for work, so a lot of time I’m left at home in charge of the farm. Minnesota winters get pretty brutal.

It would be 4:30 in the morning and I’d have to start chores so I could get to school on time, and I’d be thawing all the waterers, and get to school by 8:30 and by then I was already exhausted. I was convinced I didn’t want to do this my whole life. It’s hard work.

And then I got into showing cattle and that helped. But really what it was for me was the night I left for college, and the day before I helped out a neighboring county’s beef show.

All my friends from across the state that show cattle came down just to say goodbye. It was in that moment I realized I am very fortunate for the people that are around me that care so much about me.

A. Katie Stroud:
For me, it’s the values you’ve learned growing up. I’m from a small town of 250 people, so we’re all kind of the same. I’d say I was pretty sheltered growing up as well.

Didn’t get out much. It was when I did get involved in this program, and traveled, went to college and saw how other kids were raised living in the city, that I say they might not have had those same responsibilities I had.

Getting up before school, and working several hours, and then to go to school, you learn a lot of responsibility, respect for the land, and livestock, just a great sense of pride, as well.

When I did go to college I saw how many classmates didn’t have that. I knew that’s what I wanted to do. I wanted my kids to have those same values and keep on that tradition.

Q. What is your generation going to do better in beef production than previous generations?

A. Erin Morrison:
I would say the generations before us deserve a lot of credit. The biggest difference between them and where we’re at now is the number of people producing food compared to when my grandparents were farming.

Everybody is so far removed from the farm, we’re going to have to deal with a lot of different issues – not so much directly on the farm -- but with issues related to farm and consumers.

I think we’re going to do better -- not because they were bad at it. But we’re going to have to do a better job of communicating who we are and what we do, and being able to stand up for why it is we farm the way we farm, and supporting the decisions that we choose to make.

A. Chandler Mulvaney:
In years past, you’ve always had tools you can use to make your job more effective. I feel as though our future in farming is going to be technologically based.

Using that as a resource and putting an emphasis on technology and being able to use that to our benefit, and maximizing our food capacity globally, not only here in the U.S.

A. Katie Stroud:
Technology is definitely what’s going to make the difference. When we visited Lexington, Kentucky for the Global 500, their theme was “Efficiency, Profitability and Sustainability.” I really think they pinpointed it. We do need to become more efficient in our practices, making them more sustainable.

The use of technology is going to help us do that, to become better recyclers.

There are a lot of exciting things, new products coming out, that I think will change the way we farm and ranch in the future. It’s definitely going to be for the better. We are going to work on becoming more sustainable and sufficient.

Q. Have any of you had a success convincing anyone who was anti-agriculture to understand your perspective?

A. Katie Stroud:
Three conversations come to mind. First, my fall semester in an animal science class, my lab partner was a vegetarian. Why she was in that class I’m not sure.

But I definitely had a good conversation about how my own family ranch is run. Ninety-seven percent of all beef operations are family owned and operated.

A big misconception is factory farms and cattle are born in feedlots, they don’t understand the family tradition side. I don’t know if I changed her mind or not, but I did get her thinking.

Another comes to mind is one with my nutrition professor, who’s also a vegetarian. And a gal I met at this convention, she’s a vegetarian. I had a great conversation with her. They don’t realize the traditions behind it and how much we care about our cattle.

A. Erin Morrison:
A professor in one of my classes had the conception that American agriculture was very much factory farm-based.

We were watching “Food, Inc.” and he was talking about how American agriculture has gone down a bad path, and how we couldn’t trust any meat products.

I knew I wasn’t going to change his mind, he had done his research and he had his opinions.

But where my concern was there was 20 young college students, who are just going out into the world deciding what they want to base their life choices on and if they were going to eat meat or not.

I respected the professor and learned a lot. But after watching “Food, Inc.” I did stand up and shared my story as a family farmer and some of the facts related to our industry.

I just helped give them the other side of the story so that they had an opportunity to label what he was presenting and what I was presenting so that they weren’t being told one side of the story.

A. Chandler Mulvaney:
When we attended the Pennsylvania farm show, one memory that stands out to me was I had on the second day. We had four or five families come up, and had conversations about genetically modified foods, one after another.

It was unique to see their perspective on modern agriculture and how food is produced. But It was pretty hard to try and change or plant the seed in their thought process. They had their feet planted. They know they didn’t want to change it.