Bob Smith, Oklahoma
“I am a DVM from Stillwater, Okla., Some partners and I run a stocker operation and buy calves from the southern United States. We run them on wheat pasture and in the spring, when wheat pasture plays out, we sell some and on occasion we feed a few of these calves.
"Undoubtedly, the checkoff has brought value to my own operation. For one thing, if you think about the way we’re able to manage critical media issues such as the BSE cow and E. Coli – once the consumer understands that the beef industry cares, is doing research, and is trying to mitigate these problems, that gives them confidence. And confidence in the producer is important.
“What we’re addressing now is how to get this information out to the public. We want them to understand what we’re doing in the area of Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) as far as residue avoidance , and by educating them, we can show them what we do as producers to ensure them that will never be on their plate. Another recent issue is cattle handling – it’s important to tell consumers what our policies are and educate producers so negative things don’t happen. Telling consumers what’s happening ‘down on the farm’ is important.”
Click here to hear more from Bob Smith about the importance of checkoff-funded research.
Funded by the Beef Checkoff.
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