Intro and Welcome

Joe Roybal - Editor, BEEF Magazine

Joe is a native of South Dakota and a graduate of South Dakota State University with a degree in journalism. He worked as a daily newspaper reporter and photographer before doing a six-year stint as a news bureau feature writer. His livestock magazine experience includes serving as managing editor of Dairy Herd Management and editor of Feedlot Management magazines before joining BEEF in 1985. Joe assumed the editorship of BEEF in 1993 when founding editor Paul D. Andre retired.

Michael Kelsey - Executive Vice President, Nebraska Cattlemen

Michael Kelsey has been Executive Vice President of the Nebraska Cattlemen since November 1, 2004. Prior to this position, he served as executive director of the Oklahoma Beef Council for four years. Before that, he was executive director of the South Carolina Cattlemen's Association. He is a Oklahoma native and a graduate of Oklahoma State University. Kelsey and his wife Tonya have four children Joshua, Caleb, Anna and Chloe.

Keynote Panel Discussion - "Are We Filling the Demand for Quality Beef Today?"

Ruth's Chris Steakhouse

Larry Corah - Vice President, Certified Angus Beef, LLC.

Larry Corah assumed the role as vice president of Certified Angus Beef LLC in June of 1998. His initiated the supply development program to ensure product supply, and currently he oversees the production division of the program. His previous positions include director of production systems for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), and 25 years as a beef extension/research specialist at Kansas State University. He served as president of the Midwest section of the American Society of Animal Science and was the 1987 recipient of the Society’s Extension Award for distinguished service. Dr. Corah, a North Dakotan, received his MS in ruminant nutrition at Michigan State, and Ph.D. in reproductive physiology at the University of Wyoming.

Angelo Fili - Executive Vice President, Greater Omaha Packing Co., Inc.

Angelo Fili is Executive Vice President of Greater Omaha Packing Company. Greater Omaha opened in 1920, and is currently processing 2400 cattle per day in Omaha Nebraska. Angelo is a thirty-year veteran of the beef industry - serving as a butcher, trainer, supervisor, plant manager, in store product field representative, salesman and in executive management. Having worked with American Beef, Great Plains Beef, Circle C Beef, Pepper Packing, Sterling Colorado Beef, Beef America and now Greater Omaha Packing, he has participated in the opportunities and obstacles the industry has endured from a variety of different career vantage points.

Jeff Savell - Regents Professor, Animal Science, Texas A&M University

Jeff Savell is Regents Professor and E.M. "Manny" Rosenthal Chairholder; and leader of the Meat Science Section in the Department of Animal Science at Texas A&M University. He also holds an appointment on the Faculty of Food Science and Technology. Jeff's teaching and research efforts have been recognized through numerous awards. He has been heavily involved in HACCP implementation through workshops and one-on-one meetings. Jeff is a past president of the American Meat Science Association, serves on the McDonald's Corporation International Scientific Advisory Committee on BSE and Outback Steakhouse's Animal Well-Being and Food Safety Advisory Council. He has been identified by ISIHighlyCited.com as one of the top 250 most cited researchers in the world in the field of agricultural science. He received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees from Texas A&M.

"The Effect of Ethanol on Beef Quality"

Bo Reagan - Vice President of Research and Knowledge Managment, National Cattlemen's Beef Association

James O. (Bo) Reagan is Vice President for Research Knowledge and Management with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Associaton, and oversees the national research programs in the areas of beef safety, market research, product technology and human nutrition research. At NCBA, Dr. Reagan was instrumental in establishing the Beef Industry Food Safety Council. Prior to the formation of NCBA, he was Director of Research for the National Livestock and Meat Board, and coordinated their Blue Ribbon Task Force effort addressing the issues of E. coli O157:H7. Bo grew up on a cattle and sheep ranch near Lampasas, Texas. He received a B.S. degree in Animal Science, and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Meat Science, all from Texas A&M University.

Chris Calkins - Department of Animal Science, University of Nebraska - Lincoln

Chris R. Calkins is Nebraska Beef Industry Professor of Animal Science at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. He has been on the Animal Science faculty at UNL for 26 years, and is active as a college advisor and teacher. Dr. Calkins conducts research on muscle characterization, objective grading technology, meat quality, palatability and flavor. In 2004, Chris’ muscle profiling research team was awarded the International Meat Secretariat World Prize for Meat Science and Technology, the first time the prize was ever awarded in the U.S. A native of Washington State, Chris received his B.S. and Ph.D. from Texas A&M University in Animal Science with an emphasis in meat science and muscle biology. He earned his M.S. in Food Science and Technology from the University of Tennessee.

Glen Dolezal - Director, New Technology Applications, Cargill Meat Solutions

Glen Dolezal has been Director, New Technology Applications with Cargill Meat Solutions since 1999. His responsibilities involve research and development support for procurement, operations, and marketing, and corporate beef grading oversight and beef tenderness commitments. Dr. Dolezal was previously on the faculty at Oklahoma State University in 1983 where he taught live animal evaluation and carcass evaluation, as well as meat grading and selection. His research interests focused on the applied aspects of carcass evaluation to improve accuracy of identifying carcasses with optimal muscle, minimal bone, and optimum fatness to ensure consumer satisfaction for taste and lean meat yield. Glen received his B.S. and M.S. from Texas A&M University and his Ph.D. from Colorado State University.

Galen Erickson - Beef Feedlot Extension Specialist, University of Nebraska - Lincoln

Galen Erickson is an associate professor and feedlot extension specialist with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He has been on faculty since 2001 with a 50% research, 40% extension, and 10% teaching appointment. Research and extension areas include grain milling byproduct use, nutritional management of environmental challenges, growth promotion, and starch (grain) utilization research. Dr. Erickson received his B.S. from Iowa State, and M.S. and Ph.D from the University of Nebraska.

Dr. Dan Faulkner - Professor and Beef Extension Specialist, University of Illinois

Dan B. Faulkner is a professor and beef extension specialist at the University of Illinois. Dr. Faulkner has primary responsibility for beef research activities at two research farms. He is perhaps best known for his work on the effects of weaning time and creep feeding on cow performance, calf performance and carcass merit of the calves at slaughter. This work has demonstrated that source of creep feed, amount of creep feed consumed and length of time calves receive creep feed all have an influence on carcass quality grade. Dan was raised on a livestock farm in Gooding, Idaho. He received his B.S. in Animal Science from the University of Idaho, and M.S. and Ph.D. in Ruminant Nutrition from the University of Nebraska.

Alan Janzen - Owner, Circle Five Beef, Inc.

Alan Janzen is Owner/Manager of Circle Five Beef, Inc. in his hometown of Henderson, Nebraska. Circle Five is a diversified farming, ranching, and cattle backgrounding and finishing operation with approx. 35,000 head marketed annually. Alan is known as an innovative cattlemen who “knows the numbers” on the cattle he feeds. Alan served as vice-chair of the NCBA Beef Safety Committee, and on the executive committee of the Beef Industry Food Safety Council. Alan received his B.S. in Animal Science and Accounting from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He and his wife, Kim, have three daughters.

2007 National Stocker Award Winner

Shawn Mercer - Mercer Cattle, LLC., Richton, MS

Shawn Mercer, owner of Mercer Cattle, LLC, Richton, MS, took over the family farm 15 years ago determined to keep it in the cattle business. He's since built a thriving stocker business focused on straightening out high-risk, light-weight calves, then adding weight through intensively managed rotational grazing. One of Mercer's keys to success is maximizing the net value per calf by optimizing forage and labor costs, rather than maximizing the number of calves managed each year.

2007 Trailblazer Winner

Winner will be announced in the November issue of BEEF magazine!

"The Ethanol Effect on the Beef Industry"

John Lawrence - Livestock Economist and Director of the Iowa Beef Center, Iowa State University

John D. Lawrence is an Extension Livestock Economist and Professor, Department of Economics. He is Director of the Iowa Beef Center at Iowa State University, and Assistant Director of the Iowa Agricultural and Home Economics Experiment Station. His primary responsibilities include: cattle and hog price outlook, livestock producer marketing and management decision-making, and livestock and meat supply chain economics and structure. Other recent work includes environmental regulations and management systems for beef producers. John got his education before going to college. He was raised on a crop/livestock farm in southwest Iowa, operated this farm in the late 1970s, and then was a herdsman on a 300-sow feeder pig operation in the early 1980s before attending Iowa State University. Dr. Lawrence received the B.S. in Animal Science and M.S. in Economics at Iowa State; and his Ph.D. Agricultural Economics at the University of Missouri, Columbia.

Chad Hart - Ag Economist, Center for Agriculture and Rural Development, Iowa State University

Chad Hart is an agricultural economist with the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) at Iowa State University. He leads the Biorenewables Policy division at CARD. Chad is also the U.S. Policy and Insurance Analyst with the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI). His research interests are in the examination of biorenewable fuels production and the utilization of crops for that production, the analysis of federal agricultural program effects on the biorenewable fuels industry, and the impact of biorenewable fuels expansion on the traditional uses of agricultural crop production. Dr. Hart received a B.S. in economics with minors in mathematics, history, and astronomy from Southwest Missouri State University. He received his Ph.D. in economics and statistics from Iowa State University. He and his wife, Jennifer, have two children.

Jay Wolf - President, Nebraska Cattlemen

Jay Wolf is President of the Nebraska Cattlemen, representing 3000 of Nebraska’s ranchers and farmers. He is a 3rd generation cattleman from Albion, NE. Jay and his family own the Wagonhammer Cattle Co., a 2000 cow operation and 5400 head feedyard. He worked as a banker in Denver for four years before entering the family business. Jay received his B.S. in agriculture from the University of Nebraska. Jay and his wife, Susie, have been married for 24 years and have 3 children.

"Current Trends in Feeding Ethanol Co-Products"

Kip Karges, PhD. - Nutritionist, POET Nutrition

Kip Karges works as nutritionist/technical support with POET Nutrition, Inc. He also serves as director of ruminant nutrition research for Dakota Gold Research Assn. POET™ Nutrition, Inc. is the largest marketer of Dried Distillers Grains with Solubles (DDG/S). Dr. Karges received his B.S. in Animal Science from Oklahoma State University, M.S. in Ruminant Nutrition from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln; and his Ph.D. in Ruminant Nutrition from Oklahoma State.

Chris Reinhardt, PhD. - Extension Feedlot Specialist, Beef Cattle Institute at Kansas State University

Chris Reinhardt is Feedlot Extension Specialist with Kansas State University. His focus has been on nutritional and hormonal manipulation of body composition and beef quality. Having spent 11-years in the feed and pharmaceutical industries providing technical services throughout the northern high plains and corn belt, he has experience in a variety of feedlot production-related topics. A native of Wisconsin, Chris enjoys hunting with his sons, church activities, playing guitar with friends, and his family. He and his wife, Nicoel, have four children. Dr. Reinhardt received a B.S. in Meat and Animal Science from the University of Wisconsin, an M.S. in Nutrition from Texas A&M University, and a Ph.D. in Nutrition from Kansas State University.

"The Ethanol Effect on Your Operation - How Will You Survive and Thrive?"

Barry Dunn - Executive Director and Endowed Chair, King Ranch Institute for Ranch Management, Texas A&M University

Barry Dunn is the Executive Director and Endowed Chair of the King Ranch Institute for Ranch Management at Texas A&M University-Kingsville. Dr. Dunn’s family began ranching and raising cattle in South Dakota in the 1880’s. After two years managing a cow-calf research herd for NDSU at the Carrington Research and Extension Center, Barry returned to manage his family’s ranch near Mission, South Dakota. Barry returned to academia in 1997, working as Range Livestock Production Specialist at South Dakota State University while completing his graduate work. His dissertation focused on the profitability of the cow-calf enterprise. Dr. Dunn received his B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. in Animal Science from SDSU.