Executive Edge

Josh St. Peters, Illinois Beef Association Executive Vice President

We’re heading to Illinois Beef Expo in a matter of days, and it is sure to be a wonderful gathering for our entire industry. The four-day event is back in Springfield, on the Illinois State Fairgrounds, with sales and shows and trade show vendors bringing together the best of the best they have to offer. I hope you’re planning to make the trip to take in the Expo for yourself, to be together with thousands of other beef producers and cattle families from across Illinois. Later in this issue you’ll see a full schedule of event, and I’m certain that it contains something for everyone.

The Expo event requires cooperation and collaboration from several different groups. The work of planning this year’s event got underway in late spring of 2021 – shortly after last year’s abbreviated junior show event wrapped up in Peoria. Three great coordinators pull it all together: Ashley Beutke with Illinois Farm Bureau, Cori Malone at Illinois State University and Mareah Rauch from IBA make a dream team for planning and plotting out how the Expo can grow and offer more for the state’s beef industry.

The Expo’s volunteer board of directors brings great leadership, and it has been a pleasure to see them work together in decision-making and guiding the many updates and enhancement that have been built into this year’s schedule. We’re using more space on the fairground this year, spreading out across new facilities and adding in more barns and buildings to accommodate what we anticipate will be a great set of sale cattle and show calves for 2022. The board is chaired by Dr. Wes Keller, and he has a group of excellent directors in the following individuals: Luke Lemenager represents Angus, Jim Bloomberg represent the AOB breeds, Kim Carney-Rhodes represent Herefords, Denny Jordan represents Shorthorn, Shannon Welsh represents Simmentals and Travis Meteer represents the IPT bull sale. If you come across any of these folks at Expo, please stop and give them a pat on the back. They’ve volunteered a lot of their time traveling to and from Springfield for meetings, walk throughs and planning sessions to make it all happen.

Dr. Paul Walker shares some observation in this issue’s “Association Focus” column about groups working together to achieve great results – and I’m certainly a believer that the partnership between our Expo board and staff members paved the way for a wonderful event later this month. Let’s just hope that Mother Nature does her part to work with us; I’ve been praying for a little less mud, some sunshine and clear skies to get all the attendees and cattle through Expo without any delays or inconveniences.

In addition to the details of Illinois Beef Expo, this issue of the magazine is packed with a lot of great writing on several interesting and informative topics; I told the staff that this issue has it all, from college basketball to bull sales, political updates to show winners and great thought-starters on nutrient management and cover crop planning, too. We’re striving to make sure your organization celebrates all the interests and sectors that make up the Illinois cattle industry.

One last request as we roll through February; please review your inbox, from the postal service or via e-mail, and make certain that you don’t have a reminder outstanding about your 2022 IBA membership dues. Everyone received renewal notices at the end of 2021, and we’ve been prompting reminders to those of you who still need to join up in the new year. We don’t want to lose you and your household as a valued member of IBA, and I don’t want this one to be your last issue of Illinois Beef magazine, so please renew as soon as possible. You can also call the office and one of the staff will gladly help you pay over the phone, or better yet – come see us at Illinois Beef Expo, where you can pay onsite with a check, cash or credit card. We’re grateful for your continued support of this member organization.

If you have questions, concerns or need help with an issue on your operation or in your community, please don’t hesitate to reach out. My contact at the office is josh@illinoisbeef.com or (217) 787-4280 and if I am on the road, you can call or text me via (217) 282-0250.