The Ohio Cattlemen’s Association (OCA) recently hosted young cattlemen from across the state for the annual Young Cattlemen’s Conference (YCC) in Columbus on Aug. 11-13. The conference focused on industry knowledge enhancement, advocacy through political efforts at the state and national level, career development training and networking. The overall goal of the conference is to create future leaders for Ohio’s beef industry.
This event was sponsored by Farm Credit Mid-America, Nationwide, the Ohio Beef Council and the Ohio Soybean Council.
The group of attendees ranged from beef producers to career professionals. This year’s group of young cattlemen and women included:
“At OCA, we make it a priority to cultivate future leaders of the industry who are not only educated but driven to make a difference, advocate and show-up on behalf of beef producers all over that state and the country,” said Bill Tom, vice president for the OCA board of directors, in his opening speech. “That is why we host this conference.”
After dinner, the group celebrated the 2022 Ohio State Fair Commercial Cattle Show winners before hearing from Dr. Nevil Speer, beef industry consultant and contributor to BEEF Magazine and Drovers, who gave his outlook for the future of the industry and covered consumer market research.
On Fri. the crew started the morning by learning more about Ohio’s beef industry and participated in a mini Beef 509 program with Dr. Lyda Garcia, associate professor of meat science and extension meat specialist at OSU. This program covered information on how beef is graded, fabrication of the wholesale and retail beef cuts and issues that can affect beef quality and pricing.
The conference continued after lunch at the Ohio Statehouse where attendees took a closer look at the public policy process, learned more about issues facing Ohio agriculture and toured the Statehouse with Representative Don Jones.
Later in the day, attendees toured the OSU Culinary Production Center with Zia Ahmed, senior director of OSU Dining Services, and learned about the process of mass food production and discussed important issues such as food waste.
The last day of YCC included a presentation about the Beef Checkoff and concluded with a team building exercise and a Strength Finders Workshop hosted by Barb Wilkinson, sr. executive director of governance, leadership and development at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA).
These attendees are encouraged to continue to stay involved in the industry, volunteer on committees and eventually serve on board seats in the future.
Photo cutline: Representative Don Jones gave young cattlemen a private tour of the House Chambers at the Ohio Statehouse during the 2022 Young Cattlemen's Conference.