Leadership Development Program Completes Session Six At Certified Angus Beef

Nikki Whitaker Kentucky Cattlemen's Association Class IX of the Kentucky Cattlemen’s Association Leadership Development Program held their sixth and final session at the Certified Angus Beef (CAB) Culinary Center April 3-5. The two-day session began with a welcome and presentation from CAB President, John F. Stika, Ph.D. John grew up on a small, family farm in central Kansas, and earned a bachelor’s and a master’s degree from Kansas State University and doctorate in meat science from the University of Kentucky, so he was excited to have Kentucky producers at the Culinary Center. Following a tour of the CAB headquarters, the Leadership group headed to the Meat Lab where Diana Clark, CAB Meat Scientist, reviewed the brand’s 10 specifications that carcasses have to meet in order to become certified. Later that day, Diana was joined by Dr. Daniel Clark to discuss carcass cutout values through an interactive fabrication session. This hands-on session allowed the class to fabricate retail cuts from a primal cut of beef. To end the day, the class participated in a Taste the Difference session that showcased the importance of beef quality in the culinary world. Samples of USDA Select, USDA Choice, Certified Angus, and Certified Angus Prime were given to the class to compare. Needless to say, Certified Angus Prime was the clear winner. The next day, the class connected on a producer level hearing from CAB staff on how the brand serves as the voice of beef producers to a consumer audience and what the trends are for production practices. On the last night of the session, the class attended their Graduation Dinner held at The City Square Steakhouse, a historic restaurant exclusively serving Certified Angus Beef and recently named one of the top 100 steakhouses in America. At dinner, the group shared memories of the past five sessions and enjoyed their last time together before graduating the program. Leadership Chair, Jacob Settles, concluded the evening by awarding the Jeff Settles Leadership Award to Jackson Tolle from Mason County. This award, named for Leadership Program alumni and past Leadership Chairman, Jeff Settles, is voted on by all the participants in the leadership class. For receiving this award, Jackson will now serve as the Leadership Chair on the KCA Board of Directors. Session 6 was a great ending for Class IX of the Leadership Program and it may go down in history as the longest Leadership Class on record! If you, or someone you know, is interested in applying for the program, please contact Nikki Whitaker at nwhitaker@kycattle. org.

Class Members participate in a meat cutting demonstration S The class hears from Diana Clark, Meat Scientist at CAB T Jacob Settles presents Jackson Tolle the Jeff Settles Leadership Award S The group receives a tour of CAB from Deanna Walenciak T