Executive Edge

Josh St. Peters, Illinois Beef Association Executive Vice President

The Illinois cattle industry thrives on a network of more than 16,000 hard-working beef producers – a close-knit collective of families, friends and neighbors who all share a purpose in one of the most challenging and rewarding businesses I have come across. As I begin my work as Executive Vice President here at Illinois Beef Association, I am both humbled and honored by the opportunity to help direct the work advocating on behalf of each member of this patchwork. I appreciate this position as both a privilege and a challenge, working to bolster support for Illinois’ beef and for the people who produce it.

Thank you to all of you who have reached out in recent weeks, during my first days on the job. I have enjoyed the chance to connect, by phone and by e-mail, and even in-person at the Expo events in Macomb and Peoria. Your support and input have been appreciated, as I forge ahead with our board leaders and staff on this journey to grow Illinois’ beef industry organization.

While at the recent Expo sales in western Illinois, I was able to connect with a number of our accomplished seedstock producers from across the state. A little further in your reading of this issue, you can see the results of their efforts (with added thanks to a tremendous turnout of top-notch buyers). If you had the chance to see these sales in-person or online, it was a great reminder of how our industry can come together when facing adversity. Over the last year we have certainly learned that a pandemic can do a lot to impact society, but it could not stop some of our state’s best cattlemen from putting together a pair of stellar sales. Thank you to the Lowderman family and their staff for the exceptional hospitality at the Illinois Beef Expo sales, as well. Their facility offered a great site for these sales and made it possible for the traditions of the Illinois Performance Tested Bull Sale and the Mid-America Simmental Sale to continue in 2021.

Speaking of changes we successfully navigated, congratulations to all of the exhibitors at our recent Illinois Beef Expo junior shows in Peoria. The families who presented cattle put on a wonderful display of one aspect that makes our industry so exciting: it’s our future. We had hundreds of youth from across the state, and even outside of Illinois this year, who exhibited during our Saturday and Sunday show at the Expo Gardens. The showmanship of this group is always stellar, but I am always amazed by how well our young people represent us at this event. As a parent of three junior members myself, I am so proud of the future producers and advocates we are developing through Illinois’ investments in our youth programs.

You will see coverage of the shows, with photos and results, in our next issue of Illinois Beef magazine. Printing deadlines complicated our ability to get it all into this magazine, but you can also go online to our social media pages and the IBA website for more details.

This junior show was another example of people coming together to make sure that our kids would still be able to have a great event despite the social challenges, and they were certainly successful. I would like to commend the Illinois Beef Expo board of directors for all of the time spent planning for this event; behind the scenes they did a tremendous amount of work to make the junior shows possible this year. Three colleagues also went above-and-beyond to coordinate, setup and direct the show and tradeshow in Peoria: Ashley Beutke, Cori Malone and Mareah Volk put in a lot of hours to plan and prepare, and their work was key to successfully moving this year’s show from the Illinois State Fairground in Springfield to the 2021 site in Peoria. These ladies are true professionals at how they pull together to work, and their efforts should be celebrated.

All of our February and March events have certainly made for an exciting time to get started in the role, but I have appreciated the chance to connect with so many of you through the sales and shows and I look forward to spending more time across the state at other events, with our regional affiliates or in your counties or even on your operations. Please reach out when there is an opportunity for IBA to be present in your community; I am eager to be out with our membership, and the rest of the staff is willing to lend their support in whatever way they can, too.

As I have reflected on these early days out with members, the conversations have centered around the legacy of the Association, and the important role we play in representing such a diverse group of interests within the industry. I have shared with the board and the staff the vision I maintain that we have a big tent to hold up, and there is room for everyone in Illinois’ cattle industry under here. Planning for the months ahead, I am working with our leaders on both the promotion and policy division boards to ensure our programming meets the needs of everyone in the business. I have also been working with the staff to understand their individual jobs, and how they can continue their teamwork to deliver on the objectives of our mission. This work centers around five approaches that I think can bring strong results for us in the cattle industry, and across all of Illinois agriculture. At IBA, I want our team to excel at these efforts in how we represent our membership:

Be clear in our communication. Advocacy is at the heart of why we are here, and that requires precision in how we tell the beef story – to consumers, to policy makers, and among our own shared interests. We need to be constantly communicating among these groups, but we need to do it in

a way that is additive and beneficial, and if we are clearer in our message, I think we can achieve stronger results for Illinois’ beef producers.

Be humble in our achievements. When we have successes, we need to celebrate them with humility. We are blessed with significant resources in our industry that allow us to reach great potential. Across our network of members and constituents, there is a common fiber of down-to-earth people that I am grateful to work for. I believe this ability to remain humble is key as we work together, and especially valuable as we work outside of our industry with people who are developing an understanding of what we are and who we represent.

Be supportive in our engagement. This approach is especially critical in a broad industry like Illinois’ agriculture. We need stronger ties and connectivity among the state’s farming community – livestock production and otherwise. To achieve greater success, I aspire for us to grow our engagements with other groups across the industry, by extending more support and investing ourselves into the efforts that help all of agriculture, especially where beef can benefit. With the belief that a rising tide will lift all boats, I see these engagement opportunities as important in strengthening our voice in Springfield and across the state.

Be helpful in our feedback. We are fortunate to have so much expertise among our ranks; we are home to cattlemen with decades of experience, men and women who bring careers of technical experience and beef producers who have achieved some of the highest honors in this business, and through this experience comes great knowledge. As we advocate and share insights, I am focused on approaching challenges with helpful feedback. I believe solution-oriented thinking yields stronger results and will give us more wins along the way.

Be focused in our goals. Since beginning the job on March 1, I have been committed to bringing together our resources to showcase the value and character of Illinois’ beef industry. From a promotion standpoint, we need to continue targeting the consumer segments that will bring the strongest opportunities for increased consumption. There are new campaigns under development currently, and I am excited for the communications efforts we will be able to roll out in the months ahead. Continuing this focus is critical for Illinois. On a policy front, it has been a very unique legislative session thus far, as we are working with Illinois’ elected officials almost exclusively via the computer. I have been fortunate in these early days to connect with so many of our legislative friends – members of the House and Senate who know us and know our story. But I am putting a focus on connecting us with people who do not necessarily understand the value our industry brings to Illinois’ economy. I have had the chance to connect with the Governor and the new Speaker of the House, for example, and I look forward to continuing advocacy in Springfield to raise awareness about our objectives and how we will be a strong presence in the policy process in the weeks and months ahead.

Here at IBA, you have a team working together on these programs and objectives. Please reach out and share your feedback and input on what we can be doing as a team to bring more value to you and your value through IBA. The involvement of each of you in this Association is crucial, as we work to build demand for beef while promoting the freedom to operate for each producer across the state. I am excited to be here in support of our great network of members and welcome the chance to connect with each of you as you have time to catch up.

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.