Iowa Beef Center director column
July 2023
Thank you!
On July 31, after nearly 41 years as Iowa State University Extension Beef Feedlot Specialist and 13 years as director of the Iowa Beef Center I will be retiring. In my first column for the Iowa Cattleman magazine, I wrote about the big boots to fill in replacing John Lawrence in this position. I can assure you that those boots, regardless of the fit, are well worn.
I started down this career path because I like cattle. The cattle industry has been my passion since childhood. But it has been “cattle people” who have made this job so enjoyable for so long. The friendships that have been established with many of you across the state are special. It is especially satisfying to work with the sons, daughters and even grandchildren of some of my original clients.
I have also had the opportunity to work with fantastic people through the years at Iowa State University and ISU Extension. Early in my career my colleagues in Animal Science Extension taught me how to be an effective and impactful educator, and I gained practice by covering the state for hundreds of county cattle feeder meetings. While our educational events tend to be more regional today, we continue to provide local opportunities for beef producers across the state. There have been many colleagues who have been friends and advisors through the years. As Extension Cow-calf specialist for many years, Daryl Strohbehn certainly shared many hours of windshield time with me.
Extension has changed as well over the last 40 years. There have been several reorganizations and downsizings. The organization has changed from a system-based on county ag agents with generalized ag knowledge to a system with regional specialists. Currently we have 6 outstanding regional beef specialists who coordinate our local Iowa Beef Center educational programs locally. There are similar extension specialists across the state for crops, farm management and ag engineering. Randie Culbertson has joined our team as Extension Cow-calf specialist, and we are looking for outstanding leadership from her in the future.
Iowa State University has been a special place to work. The "Science with Practice" motto supports the mission of the Iowa Beef Center to provide research-based information and education to the beef industry. It has been a privilege to work closely with cutting edge research faculty that also appreciate the needs of beef producers.
After logging thousands of miles of road time to attend beef meetings in church basements, community buildings, county fairgrounds and Pizza Ranches, I want to thank my family for their understanding and support. Luckily all of Iowa is within a few hours’ drive from Ames but there were late nights that took away from family time.
The beef industry is a close-knit community. Over time I have developed friendships across the U.S. and the world from universities, industry and producers. This supports the idea that "cattle people" are special across geographies.
Even though I will be retiring at the end of July, this will not be my final column. Next month I will reflect on the changes in the Iowa cattle industry over the course of my career and perhaps speculate on the future. July is the month for county fairs in Iowa. I hope you will take in your local youth beef show at the fair and support the leaders of tomorrow. Also, look for pasture and forage programs from our team this summer.
The IBC at Iowa State University serves as the university’s extension program to cattle producers. Our center comprises a team of faculty and staff from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the College of Veterinary Medicine and Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. We work together to develop and deliver the latest in research-based information to improve the profitability and vitality of Iowa’s beef industry. If you’d like to be notified of updates on progress of research projects or programs that might be coming to your area, please subscribe to our “Growing Beef” newsletter by following the link on our website, www.iowabeefcenter.org. If you have a question, use our “Ask our Experts” link. Also, feel free to call us at 515-294-BEEF or email us at beefcenter@iastate.edu. You can follow @iowabeefcenter on Twitter, YouTube and Instagram.
