8:00 a.m. – Registration. Coffee, juice & donuts
Bogan Elementary School - 5200 Hamilton-Richmond Rd., Oxford, Ohio 45056
8:30 a.m. – Depart for farm tours
Beiser Farm, Pedro’s Angus, SKJ Farms
12:30 noon - Lunch at Bogan Elementary School
NCBA PAC Fundraiser will happen at the conclusion of the meal.
1:30 p.m. - Wes Jamison - Ready for Combustion: Religion, Politics, and the Ohio HSUS Initiative
Dr. Wes Jamison is an Associate Professor of Communication at Palm Beach Atlantic University, where he teaches Public Relations, Political Communication, and Communication Theory. Likewise, he is completing another PhD at the University of Florida where he teaches graduate and undergraduate classes in communications research, practice, and theory. His academic research involves theories of public relations as they relate to activist communications and urban-rural conflict. He also researches the delegitimization of animal use in western culture.
Wes received his first PhD from Oregon State University where his dissertation examined agricultural opponents and opposition to agriculture, specifically focusing on the animal rights movement and its threat to animal agriculture. As part of his consulting business he currently conducts research in the United States and Europe on agricultural politics (especially related to the animal/human interaction), as well as urban-rural issues. He also consults with companies in Europe, India and the United States on agricultural issues, and has also published extensively on agricultural politics.
2:30 p.m. - David Martosko - “Lose Pretty or Win Ugly”
The Humane Society of the United States is the single biggest threat to animal agriculture that Americans have ever seen. Join Center for Consumer Freedom research director David Martosko for a frank discussion about the need for an aggressive, take-no-prisoners approach to dealing with this wealthy and powerful organization.
David Martosko is in his ninth year at the Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF), a Washington, DC nonprofit watchdog group supported by a unique mixture of industry stakeholders and members of the general public. David serves as the Center’s principal expert on the animal rights movement and environmental issues. He led CCF’s launch of groundbreaking Internet websites like PetaKillsAnimals.com, ActivistCash.com, and MercuryFacts.org. David holds degrees from Dartmouth College and the Johns Hopkins University.
In 2005 Mr. Martosko testified about the threat of animal-rights violence and eco-terrorism before the U.S. Senate, and followed up in 2007 with U.S. House Farm Bill testimony about the hidden agendas of deceptive groups like the Humane Society of the United States. He has also lectured the UK’s National Extremism Tactical Coordination Unit (Britain’s policing agency covering domestic terrorism) about the growing threat of animal-rights- and eco-radicals on both sides of the Atlantic.
3:30 p.m. – Afternoon Break
3:45 p.m. - Ohio responds to HSUS
Keith Stimpert, Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, and Elizabeth Harsh, Ohio Cattlemen’s Association, will update attendees on Ohio’s action plan and how to get involved.
4:30 p.m. - NCBA Representative Invited
5:30 p.m. – Steak Fry
Beiser Farm
The Beiser Family runs a diversified farming operation in northern Butler County near Somerville. Andy and Rita, along with sons David, Danny and Doug farm 2000 acres of corn, soybeans, wheat, barley and hay. They background 700 to 800 calves a year and operate a 1400 head breed-to-wean sow herd, producing 600 pigs per week.
Doug manages the backgrounding operation. They purchase crossbreds, mostly black heifer calves weighing 450 pounds at the Union Stock Yards in Hillsboro. The calves are grown with a ration including silage, hay and liquid supplement. In the summer the calves are also grown on pasture. When they weigh about 700 to750 pounds they are sold in load lots to be finished out.
The farm contributes to conservation practices by using minimum tillage on the corn ground and the beans are no-tilled. In the fall, hog manure is knifed into bean ground that will be planted to corn the next year. This adds nitrogen to the soil so they can buy less fertilizer. They also work with their county Soil and Water District, and have received EQIP funds to build facilities preventing manure runoff.
Pedro’s Angus
The farm’s roots started in the 1800s when great grandfather Barley Wagner raised Shorthorns near Fremont, Ohio. Father Nick Wagner transitioned from Shorthorn to Hereford and finally to Angus in the 1950s, selecting moderate framed cattle, staying away from extremes.
Bill and Bev Roe raise 100 purebred Angus females on 500 acres of pasture and hay in Butler County with the help of their herdsman Michael Everett. The yearling bulls are grown on pasture conditions to keep their fertility high. Bulls and bred females are marketed to 10 states by selling direct from the farm. To keep their cattle disease-free, the herd is closed with annual testing for Johne’s, brucellosis and TB. Bulls are DNA tested to assure bloodlines.
The Roes’ marketing program evolved from selling steaks to customers at Pedro’s Angus Steakhouse. Though retired from the restaurant business, their genetics is still based on the dinner table. In addition to measuring their cattle for easy calving and growth, the yearlings are ultrasounded to collect data on marbling, ribeye muscling and fat. Gathering accurate data is an obsession at Pedro’s Angus, so customers can make sound breeding decisions.
SKJ Farms
SKJ Farms is a grain, hay and cattle farm owned by Steve and June Kazin, and their son Jeff and his wife Jennifer. The operation includes 940 acres in Butler and Preble Counties. About 70 grade Hereford, Angus and crossbred cows are bred to Angus bulls. Income from the cow herd is derived from feeder calves, cull cows and fed calves for freezer beef.
Maintaining healthy cows, calves, pastures and hay fields in an integrated plan is a mainstay of the operation. Extensive use of pasture rotation (including hay fields when appropriate), crop residue and wasteland grazing are used to keep costs down and cattle condition high.
The farm has made use of several Soil Conservation Service practices including sod waterway, manure runoff control (dry stack barn, gutters and curtain drains), and heavy-use pads. Future plans include more heavy use pads, expansion of the freezer beef customer base and sale of more high quality hay in small square bales.