Extra! Extra! Read all about it! : Food For Thought Elects New Executive Officer Team

Hello all!

For the last year I have had the privilege of serving as the President of this fantastic organization. What started as group of friends around a meeting table at the local bistro just a few years ago has grown into a diverse team of young men and women who come together to accomplish so many wonderful things. I have learned so much from working with my peers in this amazing, 100% volunteer organization, and I am now honored to be stepping down from an active leadership role in the group and passing the torch to an excellent executive officer team.

I cannot thank the group members and the 2013 executive officer team enough for all their hard work over the last year.  Below are a few bullet points on just *some* of the outstanding things the group has accomplished:

• The group has to date raised nearly $150,000, mostly through generous private donations, to fund one of our activities, the Upson Lecture Series at Kansas State University. There is still work to be done however, to meet our goal of $250,000 to complete the endowment and ensure the long-term sustainability of the lectureship. I am confident that the new leaders, along with our faculty advisers, Drs. Dan Thomson and Don Boggs can and will accomplish this goal in the near future, cementing and honoring Dr. Upson's lifelong commitment and passion for educating K-State students and the community.  
• The group hosted two extremely successful Upson Lectures led by outgoing ULS Chair, Lacey Robinson, in the Spring and Fall of 2013, by Rachel Ramsey-Cruze and Dr. Jude Capper, respectively.
• The group has recently partnered with K-State's PowercatPR chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America, led by outgoing Communications Chair, Cassie Kniebel, to aid in managing communications, design, and event planning for the group's effort while also providing an avenue to actively engage a group of future influential peers and share experiences about agriculture.
• The Outreach committee, led by outgoing and incoming chairman, Jacob Hagenmaier, has engaged a group of students at the University of Kansas Medical School in Kansas City and has begun initial plans and feasibility assessments for a Joint Conference on Antimicrobial Resistance to take place in the Kansas City area which will target human & veterinary medicine and agricultural students at the state's two top universities. While the conference hopes to bring to light and discuss an important and inherently controversial topic among parties from human medicine, veterinary medicine and agriculture, it will also provide a novel and dynamic venue for communication and networking among groups of students that is not provided anywhere else.
• Food For Thought, led by logistics chairman Kiah Gourley, partnered with the Kansas Soybean Association and the Kansas Pork Association to help plan and execute an outreach event at Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, Kansas, in February. The event provided hundreds of primarily urban JCCC students information and education of how pork and soybeans are produced and the importance of the two industries to one another, family farmers, and the consumer. The JCCC culinary program also participated in the event, providing a bountiful supply of everyone's favorite meat candy, BACON!
• Perhaps most important of all for the future success and sustainability of the group, new members abound in the roster thanks to the tireless recruiting efforts and activities of outgoing Membership chairman, Alex Moran. 

I am tremendously excited for the future of the group and have great confidence that the list of accomplishments and achievements will continue to grow. Please join me in thanking the group and the executive officer team for all their hard work in the past year as well as congratulating and welcoming the incoming executive officer team.

                                     President:  Hyatt Frobose

Hyatt was born and raised on a diversified livestock and cropping operation in Pemberville, Ohio, and is currently a 2nd year PhD student at K-state focusing on Swine Management and Nutrition. Hyatt serves as the head coach of the KSU Meat Animal Evaluation Team and assistant coach to the KSU Livestock Judging Team. As a founding member of Food For Thought, he is excited to continue our mission of bridging the gap between production agriculture and the end consumer. The group is currently engaged in multiple outreach and agricultural advocacy programs, and will continue to serve as a conduit for increased awareness about modern food production.

                                   Logistics Chair: Tonia Traas

Tonia grew up in Waunakee, a small town in Wisconsin and attended University of Wisconsin-Madison where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Animal Science. She is currently a second-year veterinary student at Kansas State University interested in a career in beef production medicine. Although not from a farming family, she worked on a dairy farm during her undergraduate years which only fueled her desire to work in agriculture. Tonia has a great amount of respect and passion for the agriculture industry and is excited to be a part of the Food for Thought team!

                 Communications Chair: Brandi Buzzard-Frobose

Brandi Buzzard Frobose is a native of Colony, KS where she grew up rodeoing and showing livestock with her family. She attended Kansas State University where she earned her B.S. in Animal Sciences and Agriculture Economics and her M.S. in Animal Behavior, Well-Being and Health. Currently, Brandi is the Manager of Issues Communication for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.  Outside of her professional interests she enjoys spending time with her husband and family, rodeoing, K-State sports, working on the farm and globetrotting. Her goals going forward include increasing the number of monthly blog posts and taking reader requests for blog content.

                                  Upson Lecture Chair: Kiah Gourley

Kiah is a junior in Animal Science and an Oregon pig farm is where she calls home. She has plans to attend graduate school for swine nutrition once she graduates. Kiah is currently on the livestock judging team and enjoys traveling with them to see the many different areas involved in agriculture. She loves speaking on behalf of Ag to show transparency within the industry that feeds us all.

                                  Membership Chair: Karly Frederick

Karly is a freshman in Ag-Business with a minor in Leadership from Alden, KS and grew up on a farming and custom harvesting operation. She serves as an Ag Ambassador for the College of Agriculture and enjoys promoting all things K-State and Agriculture.  As the new Membership chair for Food For Thought, she hopes to recruit new members from diverse backgrounds and interests. She looks forward to working with FFT in the next year and helping to educate others about where their food comes from.

                                 Outreach Chair: Jacob Hagenmaier

                                             

 Jacob is a second year veterinary student at Kansas State University, with an emphasis on Beef Production Medicine. He grew up on a commercial cow-calf/backgrounding operation in the Flint Hills of Northeast Kansas that sits on the homestead originally settled by ancestors from Germany. Jacob developed a passion for agriculture at a very young age. He was very involved in activities such as 4-H and FFA while growing up. His love for the beef industry and agriculture in general has led him to veterinary school. Jacob’s career goal is to obtain a position within the animal health sector that allows him to work among the different segments of beef production and help producers continue to meet the demands of a growing world population. He hopes to find a position that fulfills this desire that is close to home and will allow him to stay involved with the family operation. He enjoys being a member of Food For Thought because of the ability of the group to work together and looks forward to contributing to the group’s mission to educate consumers that are removed from the farm.

It's plain to see that Food For Thought is in the capable hands of a great group of young leaders that will continue to advance the standard of excellence for the group and the community. 

It has been a great pleasure and honor to serve the group.

Best Regards,

DJ

“In God's wildness lies the hope of the world." - John Muir 

Meet a Rancher

Ever wonder what a modern-day rancher does?

Check out this New York Times piece for a glimpse into the vocation of a Rancher.
This way of life comes with challenges beyond our control and seemingly simple rewards, but we wouldn't trade it for any other. Here's to hoping the legacy continues for future farmers and ranchers.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/30/jobs/for-a-cattle-rancher-a-legacy-on-the-range.html?ref=business&_r=1

Ranching isn't about living for the present says rancher, Manny Encinias of Clayton, New Mexico, "our decisions are based on leaving a legacy for our kids and grandkids."

Farming Practices... And Why We Do Them

Hey everybody, my name’s Bruce Figger and I’m from a small town in central Kansas called Hudson.

I’m currently a 2nd year veterinary student at Kansas State and I did my undergraduate work at Fort Hays State where I majored in Animal Science.  My family has a farm where we grow wheat, milo, and alfalfa in addition to raising Angus cattle.  In my spare time I like playing guitar, going to the lake, and just hanging out with my friends.

I have been involved with agriculture pretty much all my life.  Unfortunately not everyone has had the same opportunities to be involved with food production as I have.  The gap between food producers and consumers is growing and I am excited to be part of what Food For Thought is doing to bridge that gap.    

I recently came across an article on Huffington Post titled “9 Facts About Factory Farming that will Break Your Heart.”  This article was full of misconceptions and scare tactics about how terrible conditions are at these “factory farms.”  Now, I could go through these so-called scary facts about food production one-by-one and explain why these practices are performed or how they’ve been over exaggerated for a good news story (that was sponsored in partnership with Chipotle… riddle me that), but since I was home on spring break last week I decided to take a look around our family farm and see what I could find that, if spun the wrong way, could be seen as heartbreaking.

So here are four practices on a non-factory farm that could break your heart, and why we do them:

#1 We Confine Our Cattle… Sometimes:

Everybody knows that cows eat grass and grass grows for free, so why would anybody need to keep them locked in a pen?  Multiple reasons exist for this practice.  One of the biggest ones is to feed cattle a specific ration so that they can gain weight as efficiently as possible to make it to slaughter weight using as few resources as necessary, this is the idea behind feedlots.  But cow-calf producers occasionally keep their cattle in pens too.

 

The pictures to the left show two groups of cattle in dry lots.  The group in the top picture is heifers that are getting ready to give birth to their first calves, they will join the group in the bottom picture after we make sure they have delivered their calves safely and everyone is healthy.  They will all go to pasture once the grass is ready.  We keep them in confinement to make sure they are healthy, have access to good feed throughout the winter, and to catch them if they need help calving, which brings me to...

 

#2 We use Chains to Deliver Calves… When Necessary:

This is a picture of my dad and me helping a cow who was having trouble delivering her calf.  This may seem unnatural, after all there are chains involved.  But sometimes during calving, difficulties can occur that require assistance, and these are big, slippery calves, so we use small chains that are like a choke collar for dogs.  We put the chains on the end of the calf’s legs near the feet to pull the calf out.  This practice is far from the norm for births, most cattle have no trouble delivering calves all by themselves.  But these calves aren’t out of the woods yet because...

#3: We Pierce Ears of Calves at Very Young Ages:

This is my brother tagging a calf that was born today, these tags have a sharp point that pokes through the cartilage of the ear then bends down to hang visibly from the ear.  This can be painful to the calf, no way to deny that.  Also it can be stressful to the calf and its mother because for all they know, we are attacking.  Pain and stress are things we try to avoid in our livestock, but in a procedure like this the benefits outweigh the costs by a long shot.  Tagging takes less than a minute and results in a calf that can be identified if it gets lost or sick or has to be moved to a new pasture.  A few seconds of pain and stress makes it possible to take care of these animals on an individual level.

#4 We Feed Antibiotics to Our Cattle to Enhance Their Growth:

To the right, is another picture of my brother hard at work putting out mineral supplement to our yearling calves on wheat pasture.  This mineral contains Monensin, which is an antibiotic in the category known as ionophores.  Ionophores make up about 30% of the antibiotics sold for use in animal medicine.  They kill a specific group of bacteria in the rumen (a compartment of cattle’s stomachs where fermentation takes place).  These bacteria produce methane, which the cattle belch off.  Killing these bacteria lowers the amount of methane produced and allows other microorganisms to make products cattle can absorb and use to grow.  Ionophores are not used in human medicine at all, so using them in cattle won’t lead to development of resistant bacteria that could harm people. 

So there you have it, folks, four common practices that could be seen as cruel or unnecessary if spun the wrong way, and that’s just in two days.  I’ll keep an eye out for more, but until then if you see or hear of something that concerns you about where your food comes from, ask a farmer. 

Eat Beef,

Bruce Figger

Calving Season

Hello everybody! My name is Jacob Hagenmaier, and I am a veterinary medicine student at Kansas State University. I am very passionate about providing a safe, wholesome food supply as well as the great stories people involved in agriculture have to tell. One such story is calving season. Right now is the end of our spring break, and while many students across the nation spent the last week enjoying sandy beaches or snow covered mountains as the perfect getaway, my break was spent in the beautiful Flint Hills of Northeast Kansas on our family ranch. March is a busy time for many ranchers, because that is when their cows are due to calve. Calving season varies within different operations, but early fall and spring tend to be the most common. Calving season is a very intense and strenuous time for cattle ranchers. Some nights, not a wink is spent sleeping due to continually checking on the pregnant females and assisting with births if needed. Still, calving season is one of the most rewarding and fulfilling parts of being involved in beef production. All the hard work spent feeding, delivering calves, putting down straw for bedding, and monitoring herd health is well worth it to see newborn calves bursting with energy and ready to go to grass around May!

Since our herd consist of predominately cattle that are 100% black, I get especially excited to see a calf born with a little bit of color.  The bull calf pictured above tends to be my favorite this year because of the "Joker-like" face pattern -- google "Joker from Batman" and you'll see what I mean! Within 12 hours of birth, all calves on our operation are given a shot that contains minerals to boost their immune system, a pill with antibodies against causes of scours (Bovine term for diarrhea), and a tag which identifies their mother. Around mid April to the first of May, the newborn calves and their mothers will be taken to pasture to feast on the fresh grass that comes with spring.

That's all for now... I better get back to studying :/

Best,

Jacob

New Member Profile: Tonia Traas

Hey all!  My name is Tonia Traas and I am currently a second-year veterinary student at Kansas State University.

I am originally from a small town in Wisconsin called Waunakee, and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Animal Science from UW-Madison. Although I didn’t grow up in a farming family, I worked on a dairy during my undergrad years, and have always been passionate about the agriculture industry.

Moving to Kansas has only fueled my passion for the beef industry and keeps me motivated to become a mixed animal practitioner in a rural area. There is no place I would rather be than with my arm in a cow :) 

I am excited to be able to be a part of Food for Thought and use my own voice to make a difference in agriculture and how people view the field that we are so passionate about! 

-Tonia

The Great American Wheat Harvest

Check out this phenomenal short documentary about family farming and wheat harvest crews during a summer of wheat harvest - called The Great American Wheat Harvest.

 

Chipotle: Biting the Hand that Feeds It?

As of 2012, 81% of Americans were on the internet.  That means 81% of Americans are constantly being bombarded with informative - and misleading - information from Facebook, Twitter, and notably, a particular Hulu web series.   Chipotle Mexican Grill, has taken advantage of the world wide web to broadcast their web series, “Farmed and Dangerous” via Hulu.

While Chipotle uses the slogan, "Food With Integrity," I find the corporation to actually be quite lacking in integrity.  They created this series to attack modern-day “industrial” farming, while showing that local, natural and organic family farms are the only way to go.  While there is absolutely nothing wrong with supporting local and organic markets, it is wrong for Chipotle to mislead consumers with myths of modern farming.

Check out this recent guest editorial in response to Chipotle's attack on modern agriculture featured in K-State's student newspaper, the Collegian.  The contributor, Nathan Peterson, is a sophomore in agricultural technology management at K-State and is well known in the agriculture community for being one of the Peterson Farm Bros, from the Peterson Farm Bros YouTube videos.

http://www.kstatecollegian.com/2014/02/28/chipotle-misleads-its-consumers-bites-hand-that-feeds-it/

-Alex