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Commodity News -
Livestock news
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Wednesday, 25 January 2012 19:30 |
Fifteen beef producers attended the Kansas Livestock Association (KLA) Leadership Conference in Topeka, January 16-18. During the three-day event, participants were exposed to services provided by KLA, the legislative process, industry advocacy and various aspects of beef production and marketing.
The group attended a Kansas Senate Agriculture Committee meeting and heard from KLA lobbyists on how they protect members’ interests during the legislative process. Attendees also had a chance to meet with their respective legislators to discuss important livestock industry issues.
As a part of the conference, members took part in an interactive advocacy training session led by KLA staff and WIBW-Topeka farm broadcasters Kelly Lenz and Greg Akagi. Participants were given an overview of the importance of being an industry advocate and the various social media outlets available to help them reach consumers who are several generations removed from the farm or ranch and want to know more about the origin of their food. Debbie Lyons-Blythe, a rancher from White City, shared with the group how she has implemented advocacy into her daily routine through Facebook, Twitter and, most notably, the use of her blog, “Life on a Kansas Cattle Ranch.”
The class immediately put this training to work while distributing samples of flat iron and ribeye steaks to consumers at Dillons and Hy-Vee grocery stores. They answered customer questions about animal health, beef nutrition and cooking methods.
Class members also visited U.S. Foodservice, Texas Roadhouse and Puffy’s Steak & Icehouse to learn more about how beef is sold at the foodservice level.
This year’s class brings the total number of graduates of the leadership training program to 617 since it was initiated in 1981. Sponsors of the annual event included Central Life Sciences; Frontier Farm Credit; Jostens; Kennedy and Coe, LLC; and the Kansas Livestock Foundation.
KLA is a trade organization representing the business interests of independent livestock producers at the state and national levels. Members of the association are involved in all segments of the livestock industry, including cow-calf production, backgrounding, cattle feeding, swine, dairy and sheep.
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Commodity News 