Agricultural News
Cattle Producers Gather at Noble Foundation to Learn About Sustainable Practices on the Ranch
Wed, 08 Feb 2017 16:22:32 CST
To support producer education, The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation will host its sixth annual Texoma Cattlemen's Conference, the premier beef conference in the Southern Great Plains. One of the event's organizers, Hugh Aljoe of the Noble Foundation, spoke with Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays about the conference and the topics that will be discussed.
"The theme this year is The Future of Sustainable Beef," said Aljoe, producer relations manager. "The question about sustainability all goes back to where our food is sourced."
This year's conference will showcase the efforts of several participating U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (USRSB) member entities, including the Noble Foundation. The USRSB is a national effort to help make the entire U.S. beef value chain more sustainable.
"The public's perception - they want to feel confident with our food supply," he said. "For us as cattle producers, out product is beef. The key thing that we want to be able to do is communicate that much of what our producers are already doing is sustainable."
Aljoe says this conference is designed to help producers in the region stay on top of the science and technologies that are available and applicable to their operations. He notes that the focus will be on becoming proficient in sustainable practices within your operation and learning to continually strive to achieve greater efficiency in order to produce a product that is economically, environmentally and ethically congruent with the consumer's expectations.
Guest speakers being featured at the conference this year include:
· Townsend Bailey, McDonald's director of supply chain sustainability: The Future of Sustainable Beef and Sustainable Beef Value Chain panel
· John Butler, Beef Marketing Group chief executive officer: The Future of Sustainable Beef and Sustainable Beef Value Chain panel
· Billy Cook, Ph.D., Noble Foundation senior vice president and Agricultural Division director: Sustainable Beef Value Chain panel
· Leigh Ann Johnston, Tyson Foods director of sustainability: Sustainable Beef Value Chain panel
· David Orme, Integrity Beef Alliance president: Sustainable Beef Value Chain panel
· Derrell Peel, Ph.D., Oklahoma State University Cooperative Extension livestock marketing specialist: Cattle Market Outlook
· Noble Foundation Agricultural Division researchers
· Ron Hays, Oklahoma Farm Report, moderator
According to Aljoe, being sustainable in many cases, is just showing others what you already have in place on the farm or ranch.
"If producers are doing things well, probably the only real step that's necessary is to document," he surmised. "And what we feel like is necessary is to have a plan in place - also be able to talk about what they've actually done and then the results."
The conference is scheduled to take place from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Friday, February 24, at the Ardmore Convention Center.
Registration and trade show open at 8 a.m. Registration is $40 and includes lunch. For more information or to preregister, please visit www.noble.org/agevents or contact Danielle Pacifico at 580-224-6376.
Listen to Hays' complete conversation with Aljoe about this year's cattle conference, by clicking or tapping the LISTEN BAR below.
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