Behind the Blogger: Jara Settles

Hello there! My name is Jara Settles and I am a recent (2011) graduate of Kansas State University where I earned a B.S. in animal science. In the fall I will attend Washburn University School of Law to pursue a career in agricultural law. I intend to utilize my legal training in conjunction with my agricultural passion to represent the various industries that have made the United States so great. There is no question that our country would not be the world power that it is today without the hard work and sacrifice of generations of American farmers and ranchers across the country.

I grew up in rural Nebraska on a purebred cattle operation and spent most of my life on the end of a halter. After I graduated from high school I moved to Kansas to attend Butler CC to compete on their nationally renowned livestock judging team. After my time at Butler I transferred to KSU where I was active in several agricultural organizations as well as competing on the livestock and horse judging teams.

Now there is no question that my heart is in the beef industry and livestock production in general, but the agricultural world is something like a family, when one part succeeds, we all succeed. It is my hope that my involvement in Food For Thought can even further help this wonderful organization to bridge the gap between consumers and producers.

Behind the Blogger: Brandi Buzzard

Hey there, I’m Brandi Buzzard and I am a member of the Food For Thought blog squad. Like the other bloggers, I have been involved in agriculture my entire life. I’m a fourth generation agriculturalist - I grew up showing livestock, roping and helping my dad and Papaw with the cattle and horses. I’m a native Kansan, and am currently working on my Masters in Animal Science: Behavior and Welfare at Kansas State. After finishing my Masters, I plan to attend Colorado State and earn my PhD working with the great Dr. Temple Grandin (more on her in later posts). Eventually, after I am done with school, I want to be a welfare consultant to the livestock industry and plan to work bridging the gap between consumers and producers.

As agriculturalists, not only is it our duty to produce the nation’s food supply, we must also market and defend it too. While this is a testament to the determination of the agriculture industry, we must be mindful that we can always improve - we can always keep learning and we must always remember to listen to what the opposition has to say, occasionally they might have a good point to make.

Conversely, the opposition (HSUS, PETA, PCRA etc) takes advantage of the opportunities we give them – especially HSUS. The Humane Society of the United States is run by a group of smooth talking, well dressed philosophy, history and English majors - no one on their board of directors has any agricultural experience. They excel in dancing around direct questions and telling only one side of the story. In a recent article by Chuck Jolley, “Five Minutes With Wayne Pacelle & The HSUS Controversies”, Jolley interviews Pacelle – CEO of HSUS, about various accusations and sketchy issues surrounding HSUS, their budget and their supposed ‘involvement’ in local animal shelters. I encourage you to read this article as it gives insight to what Pacelle and the rest of HSUS are peddling to consumers. Through knowledge of HSUS’s strategies, we can prepare ourselves to proactively stand up for our industry. I look forward to blogging about various topics on the FFT blog - feel free to leave your comments.

Until next time,
~Buzzard~

Behind the Blogger: Clem Neely

Hello,

My name is Clem Neely, and I am 23 year old first year student at Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine. However I am not new to the K-State scene, I graduated last May with my Bachelors of Science degree in Animal Sciences and Industry and I have been a diehard wildcat fan long before that. K-State has been a big tradition in my family for three generations.

Another tradition that is deeply rooted in my family is agriculture. In the late 1860’s my great-great-grandfather purchased his first piece of land in Neosho County, Kansas. My family still resides in that same area of Southeast Kansas and I am very proud of my family’s agricultural heritage. I often reflect on the challenges and hardships that my family and other farm families faced throughout all those years. I sometimes wish I could just have a one day to visit with my ancestors about the droughts, the floods, the Great Depression and how they decided which of one of the eleven kids got to take the first bath on Saturday night.

Today, we involved with agriculture are confronted with numerous hurdles, many of which have no apparently clear solution on how to get over them. Market based questions arise like, “What is the proper role of the government in agriculture? How do we compete in today’s global market place?” Also questions that strike a more personal note come forward, “How do we bridge the information gap between consumer and producer? How do we counter attacks from extremist environment and animal rights agendas?”

American agriculture has seen a lot of change and progress since the first plow broke soil. Even though different challenges have come and gone since that time, there are a couple of variables that remain constant. The first is that it was not easy in the beginning, it is not easy now and nor will it ever be easy. The second constant is that change will always be on the horizon, for better or for worse.

I suppose my point would be this, we are not the first to be faced with adversity and we will definitely not be the last. Many have succeeded before us and now it is our time to try to succeed.

Thanks for your time and GO STATE!
Clem

Behind the Blogger: D.J. Rezac

Hello Good People!

My name is D.J. Rezac, I am a 23 year old graduate student in Dairy Cattle Nutrition at Kansas State University. Recently I made a somewhat drastic change in my life plans that I would like to share with you.

For as long as I can remember I have known I wanted to work with animals for the rest of life. For me it just came natural, when I was little Dad would always find me trying to crawl up on a horse, tempting in an old mama cow in with some grain or taking a nap in the sun with the dogs, so you see, it was a given that I should have been a veterinarian or an animal scientist. Sounds great right? A Midwestern small town kid following his dreams all the way to the big dance and doing what he loves for the rest of his life. That is, unless dreams change.

Folks, America is in trouble. Today our waist's and our debts are larger than ever and the only thing that I see anyone doing is pointing fingers (but not lifting a hand). There is going to have to be, let me rephrase that, there will be huge changes in the way we go about our everyday lives and we must possess the flexibility to go with them.

My Dad always told me that you will do the best where you are needed the most. This spring, with my masters program drawing to a close everyone started asking me what I was going to do with my life. There's the million dollar question for ya. I looked near and far for PhD programs but nothing seemed to fit. I got a couple jobs offers, and lets face it, today that's dang lucky, but they didn't feel right either. Then one day I just happened to be snooping around the Kansas University Medical Center Department of Dietetics and Nutrition website. There it was: New PhD program approved in Medical Nutrition Science. After talking with the director of the program and some of the faculty to get a feel for their goals the pieces fell into place for me. For someone who has been hands on with agriculture their whole life as I have to get top-notch training for feeding people and keeping them healthy I could help bridge that gap between producer and consumer/ farmer and grocery store shopper/rancher and restaurant goer that I see growing wider and wider. I firmly believe that every farmer, rancher, cowboy, and cheese maker is a human nutritionist, everything they do has one crowning achievement; put food on a human beings plate.

I plan to conduct research in obesity, diabetes and heart disease as well as participate in leadership roles to help both agriculture and the public. This is where I see myself needed and therefore doing the best. I would have never guessed that I would be on the track I am now, but hey, dreams change and we've got to change with them.

Cheers,

DJ

Behind the Blogger: Chelsea Good

Greetings! My name is Chelsea Good and I’m a law student at Washburn University in Topeka, KS. I am also finishing up my Master’s in Communication Studies from Kansas State University. My thesis research focuses on how beef producers can effectively communicate to a public removed from agriculture about sensitive issues such as animal welfare. My undergraduate degrees are from K-State where I majored in Agriculture Communications and Journalism, Political Science and Public Relations.

I can’t remember when I first decided the beef industry was where I wanted to spend my life. Maybe it was in the barn growing up where I would lay in the feed bunk for hours reading to my county fair steers. Or it could have been in the pickup going out to check cows in the field with my Grandpa Good. Or perhaps it was in my blood. All I know is that for as long as I can remember I’ve been passionate about cattle and the people in the beef industry.

Unfortunately, the average American consumer is a couple generations removed from the farm and our legislators are no different. I aspire to combine my legal and communications training to build a career bridging the gap between the beef industry and an urban public. For me, this means representing the beef industry in the public relations, political and legal arenas.

You can learn more about me and read articles I’ve written by visiting my online portfolio.

Behind the Blogger: Tera Rooney

Greetings! My name is Tera Rooney, and I will be one of the Food for Thought bloggers. I am currently a junior in Animal Sciences and Industry at Kansas State University, headed over to the College of Veterinary Medicine in the fall. I will be putting an emphasis on food animal health on the industry side during my tenure at the CVM.

I grew up in a small town called Satanta in Southwest Kansas. It was easy for me to get attached to the agriculture industry because of the sense of pride in agriculturists that goes unmatched. We have a family farm that consists irrigated acres of corn, wheat and cotton; complimented with spells of involvement in the cattle industry. My true passions were realized when my grandfather transitioned from retirement as a cattleman and farmer to start up a new leg of Rooney Ranch that included a purebred cow-calf herd. Something I have come to realize is that he had the unique opportunity to use our cowherd as a tool to raise us kids. We had equal ownership and responsibility that translated to a dedication for success in all aspects of the industry we grew up in. “Tailgate Lectures,” are one of my fondest memories of my grandfather, and if you grew up on a farm or ranch, you know exactly what these entail - wisdom from years of experience tinged with the rough edges of adversity.

Look for more references to these, "Tailgate Lectures," in my future blogs! I had to include a picture of me talking cattle with my niece, Maggie. It's never to early to start teaching the next generation about agriculture. I would also like to note, we are not in SWKS - look at those trees!

All my best,

Tera Rooney