Practically Ranching

Casey Niemann is founder of AgriSync, a customer-service platform for ticketing and remote support built specifically for ag businesses and equipment dealers. Casey, his wife Tammy, and their children reside in Des Moines, IA. Both of them served as FFA State Officers while at Kansas State University, and both have continued to provide exemplary leadership within the agribusiness segment.

Tom Black is manager of Reynolds Cattle Co. Well into his 80's, he has forgotten more about cattle production than most know today. In an age when loyalty to a company or ranch is fleeting, he has worked for the same family in the panhandle of Texas for 64 years.He's soft-spoken and polite, but after eight decades living off the land in some of the harshest environments in the U.S, his toughness and tenacity are evident. The Reynolds family is a stalwart of Texas ranching, and Mr. Black has been with them through thick and thin. Their story is a great one, and Tom touches on some of the high points during this epidsode.

Callahan Grund is the Executive Director of US Cattle Trace, a private, not-for-profit corporation made up of representatives from all beef industry segments with the mission of securely maintaining and managing data collected for disease traceability.We talk the recent history of cattle identification, technologies used and applicable uses for ID in the U.S. beef industry. www.uscattletrace.orgOther podcasts mentioned during the episode:https://theangusconversation.buzzsprout.com/2029894/11702471https://ksubci.org/?powerpress_pinw=5438-podcast

Jacqueline Leffler is a worker. She's also a thinker.  And a competitor.When you throw in her father, Bill, and grandfather, Jackie, who had business cards listing their contact info alongside the slogan, "Leffler Farms, Inc...Where Agriculture is a Profession," it's a recipe for success. In addition to farming alongside her dad and grandpa, Jacquelyne has started a direct-to-consumer beef business, Leffler Prime Performance, that helps her add value to their family's stocker/backgrounder and cattle feeding business.In addition, she coaches athletes competing in track and field throwing events. She's also been part of various programs to help tell farmers' story to our consumers, one of which is "A Farmer's Journey." Links are below.www.facebook.com/LefflerPrimePerformance/A Farmer’s Journey: FieldView™ Documentary Series (climate.com)

Cheramie Viator is a lifelong beef producer. She was raised on a family farm in Louisiana, has worked for some of the nation's largest ranches and now hangs her hat near Houston, TX, as she balances her day job with Westway Feeds while managing her family's cowherd and putting on youth cattle clinics in her free time.Throughout her career in the beef industry, Cheramie has found ways to promote junior programs and inspire those around her to best tell cow-calf producers' story to consumers and all segments within our industry.

Joe Urban is a chef, entrepreneur and currently is the Director for the Greenville County Schools Food and Nutrition Services, a public K-12 school district with 77,700 students located in Greenville, SC.He leads a team of 750 employees to prepare delicious, nutritious food for students each day.  He strives to get a little better today than he was yesterday. Best of all, he's a fan of high-quality beef and Certified Angus Beef, and he does all he can to keep it in his recipes often.School Food Rocks - Home(3) Greenville County Schools Food and Nutrition Services | Greenville SC | Facebook

Dr. Glynn Tonsor is an Ag Economist at Kansas State University. He focuses on beef/cattle and pork/swine demand and supply decision-making tools and information. His broader interests cover aspects throughout the meat supply chain ranging from production level supply issues to end-user consumer demand issues.Links:AgManager.infogtonsor@ksu.edu

Kyle Perrier is a hero. He won't say it, so I will.It's not just because he served in the Navy. AND in the Army.It's not just because he worked his tail off to earn a spot flying the Apache helicopter on numerous deployments...most with significant combat.It's not even just because he helped defend our freedom for more than twenty years as an enlisted man and then an officer.It's because he did all of the above and still put priority on his family. He figured out how to do the best with what he had. He believed in words like respect, sacrifice, structure, discipline and communication. And he used them to not only do the job that he swore an oath to do, but also to maintain a marriage, a family and a life stateside.Kyle now lives with his wife, Melinda, in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Not one to stop serving, he now flies a medical helicopter for the Broward County Fire Rescue. He moonlights as a pilot carting tourists to the Bahamas. But as you'll hear, he's a wonderful human being who --in his humble way-- helps us civilians understand just how fortunate we are to have members of the armed forces who are willing to serve.

Lamar Steiger is a consultant to Walmart and other businesses in the beef supply chain. He owns The 808 Ranch in southwest Missouri and calls the Bentonville, AR, area home today. Lamar is a lifelong student of the beef industry and today uses this perspective to help retail companies find new and better ways to manage the beef supply chain and deliver consistent, high-quality beef to consumers. 

David Kleinschmidt is an Ag Economist by training. This background, coupled with a passion for soil health, holistic management and practical management make him a wealth of knowledge and perspective.On this episode, we cover a host of topics: Cover Crops, Soil Health, Microbes, GMOs, Chemistry, Biology, Profit over Production, Organic Matter. David used so many terms that I finally got tired of writing them all down in my notes. And little did I know that my recording software was basically self-destructing the podcast as we spoke. So you'll have to put up with a largely unedited version (see how many times you hear the land-line ring or our 3-year-old in the background) with TERRIBLE sound quality. But for those willing to put up with the noise, you're in for an interesting conversation about farming, ranching and as David appropriately states, "The Business of Growing Things."David Kleinschmidt217-370-3799 dkleinsc@gmail.com