Beef Ambassadors On Board To Get Started In 2011
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Suggested Lead: Madlynn (Maddy) Ruble, Albert Lea, Minn., was recently chosen as one of the five 2011 National Beef Ambassadors, funded in part by the beef checkoff. She says as part of the annual competition, she was judged on consumer promotion, classroom presentation, media interview technique and issues response…and it was “intense.”
In all, 26 contestants from throughout the country vied for a place on this elite team of agriculture advocates, where one will be chosen for a prestigious USDA internship in Washington, DC., in November of next year.
Maddy is a sixth generation cattle producer and a freshman at the University of South Dakota, majoring in Spanish and Political Science. We asked Maddy what her goals are for her upcoming year as a National Beef Ambassador.
Ruble 1: “My goals personally are just to educate the public about the farm, where I come from, and why beef is so important for them to eat, why it’s so important to our economy, and why they should start implementing it in their diet.” (16 seconds)
Maddy explains what she feels is the biggest hurdle facing the beef industry and how sharing messages as an Ambassador helps correct that misunderstanding.
Ruble 2: “I think the biggest hurdle is probably just a lot of misconceptions that the public hears. You know, the media is very biased, it doesn’t always give out the best information or what’s exactly true. And I think as Beef Ambassadors, we can help that just because we’re all available to the public – they can come ask us any questions they have. I just think it will be great for us to be able to address them in a non-confrontational way.” (22 seconds)
Maddy is also trying to encourage other youth to be involved in sharing agriculture’s story. She says by visiting a farm, and opening up your farm to consumers and producers alike, they can experience agriculture up-close, and then make their own judgments based on first-hand information.
Ruble 3: “A lot of kids that are younger than me in 4-H, I just like to tell them to, in their school, reach out to their friends. That’s kind of how we started – I would bring my friends home during calving season. They could sleep in the barns with us, watch the calving, just be part of some of the activities on the farm so they can see what it’s really like. And I think it’s just easiest for kids, especially our age, to just open up their lives and what they do to the public and their friends, just to start.” (29 seconds)
For information on other efforts being funded with your beef checkoff investment, visit www.MyBeefCheckoff.com. For more information about the National Beef Ambassador program, visit www.NationalBeefAmbassador.org.
The Beef Checkoff Program was established as part of the 1985 Farm Bill. The checkoff assesses $1 per head on the sale of live domestic and imported cattle, in addition to a comparable assessment on imported beef and beef products. States retain up to 50 cents on the dollar and forward the other 50 cents per head to the Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion and Research Board, which administers the national checkoff program, subject to USDA approval.
Funded by the Beef Checkoff.
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