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Livestock Industries Building to host events discussing the beef business, managing grazing for profit, and fake meat.

Curt Arens, Editor, Nebraska Farmer

July 18, 2019

2 Min Read
Cattle
CATTLE TALK: Three new beef programs are being added to Husker Harvest Days this year at the Livestock Industries Building arena. The events will be Sept. 10-11.

Since 1988, Lot 860 at what is now the Livestock Industries Building at the corner of Eighth Street and West Avenue in Grand Island, Neb., has been the site of live cattle handling. Big crowds at Husker Harvest Days always enjoy seeing side-by-side comparisons of cattle-processing chutes, along with narration and commentary from Dr. Joe Jeffrey.

But this year, in addition to cattle handling, new beef programming also will be headquartered at the same location. With cattle handling scheduled at 10 a.m. and again at 2 p.m. each day, new beef programs have been added at the Livestock Industries Building arena at 11 a.m., noon and 1 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday of the show, Sept. 10-11.

The 11 a.m. program will include BEEF Magazine author and contributor Amanda Radke with her presentation, "Fake meat: What is the real story and what you need to know?" Radke, a fifth-generation rancher from Mitchell, S.D., is well-known for a career dedicated to serving as a voice for the nation's beef producers.

When she is not writing, Radke is traveling the country speaking to elementary school students about the beef industry and reading her children's book, "Levi's Lost Calf."

At noon, Burt Rutherford, BEEF Magazine senior editor, will talk about "The beef business in an era of uncertainty." A Colorado native, Rutherford was communications director for the North American Limousin Foundation and editor of Western Livestock Journal before spending 21 years as communication director for the Texas Cattle Feeders Association.

Then at 1 p.m. on those first two days of the show, Beef Producer editor Alan Newport will give his presentation, "Great grazing for profit." Newport, who resides in north-central Oklahoma, has been writing and editing agriculture magazines and involved in cattle production on and off for 30 years.

Along with beef programming and live cattle handling, visitors to the Livestock Industries Building can expect to visit with numerous livestock exhibitors, learning more about how to meet and beat their bottom line and to communicate the good news about the livestock industry to consumers.

About the Author(s)

Curt Arens

Editor, Nebraska Farmer

Curt Arens began writing about Nebraska’s farm families when he was in high school. Before joining Farm Progress as a field editor in April 2010, he had worked as a freelance farm writer for 27 years, first for newspapers and then for farm magazines, including Nebraska Farmer.

His real full-time career, however, during that same period was farming his family’s fourth generation land in northeast Nebraska. He also operated his Christmas tree farm and grew black oil sunflowers for wild birdseed. Curt continues to raise corn, soybeans and alfalfa and runs a cow-calf herd.

Curt and his wife Donna have four children, Lauren, Taylor, Zachary and Benjamin. They are active in their church and St. Rose School in Crofton, where Donna teaches and their children attend classes.

Previously, the 1986 University of Nebraska animal science graduate wrote a weekly rural life column, developed a farm radio program and wrote books about farm direct marketing and farmers markets. He received media honors from the Nebraska Forest Service, Center for Rural Affairs and Northeast Nebraska Experimental Farm Association.

He wrote about the spiritual side of farming in his 2008 book, “Down to Earth: Celebrating a Blessed Life on the Land,” garnering a Catholic Press Association award.

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