Kentucky Beef Checkoff

Join Cassie, Shelby and Patrick as they sit down with Katelyn Hawkins from the Kentucky Beef Council. Katelyn talks about what the cattle producers $2 is used for and everything they do to help promote BEEF in the state of Kentucky. Be sure to join us May 26th at the Madison County Beef Day hosted by Central Kentucky Ag Credit with help from the following sponsors, Madison County Farm Bureau, Madison County Cattlemen's Association, Kentucky Cattlemen's Association, Kentucky Beef Council, Madison County Extension and the Bluegrass Stockyards.

Links from this episode:
https://www.agcreditonline.com
https://kybeef.com
https://kycattle.org

Transcript

Speaker 5 (00:01)

Welcome to Beyond Agriculture, the podcast that takes you beyond the scope of Ag and into the real life stories, conversations and events taking place in our community. Who we are and what we do is beyond agriculture.

Cassie Johnson (00:21)

Welcome to Beyond Agriculture. We're so glad to have you on here today with us. I am your co host, Cassie Johnson. I am filling in for Caleb. We have Ms. Shelby Wade from the Paris branch. And we also have a fill in for Tom Zack. Today we have Mr. Patrick Durham from the Lebanon office. We are here today and sitting down with Ms. Katelyn Hawkins to discuss a little bit about the Kentucky Beef Council and everything that they do. Katelyn, thank you so much for coming and being our guest today.

Katelyn Hawkins (00:51)

Of course, I'm glad to be here. It's always a great opportunity to talk more about the Ag industry and share my component of it.

Cassie Johnson (00:58)

So let's get started a little bit with telling us kind of your background. Where are you from?

Katelyn Hawkins (01:04)

I was born and raised in Bullet County, Kentucky. And it's Brooks, which is a truck stop town. It's grown a little bit. So I grew up and on our farm we raised mules, which is a little bit of a curveball for a girl that's in the beef office but love them and I grew up with them and we cut hay in the summer, just like most people do with kind of our neighbors and stuff like that. I helped on the surrounding farms anyway. I could my dad with his friends, things like that, always had a taste for agriculture but wasn't ever really in production agriculture. Went to a Catholic high school, so I didn't have FFA, 4-H, stuff like that, but was still the token ad kid with what I did in my personal time back home with the meals. And then when it came time to go to College, I had my site set on ag, prominent schools like UK, Auburn and places like that. As a lot of kids think they have raised with large animals, my mind was in the vet science world. I really enjoyed science, biology, medical, things like that.

Katelyn Hawkins (02:15)

Through coursework in College learned it probably wasn't for me but freshman year of College to travel on somebody else's dollar because I'd never been west of the Mississippi River. And to get to know more people, I joined the meat judging team. Oh, cool. Yeah. Which my friends from high school are like, you do what?

Katelyn Hawkins (02:36)

It's fun.

Katelyn Hawkins (02:38)

So I learned basically that meat industry and packing plants and what does the quality grade mean? What is marbling? What is the yield grade? Why would someone stay in a cold room all day? And that turned into a passion point for me. So really what I've done in my career and the opportunities that I've had is being able to bridge those gaps between whether it's a mom at the grocery store trying to figure out what to buy for dinner. A farmer who wants to get in the freezer beef and doesn't know how to talk to a processor or a processor that doesn't know how to talk to their customers or bridging some of those communication gaps and finding that sometimes I'd rather stand in a cold room all day than sit at a desk.

Cassie Johnson (03:21)

Understandable So how did you get from judging me to the job that you have now?

Katelyn Hawkins (03:27)

So I've always kind of had my eye on KCA. I mean, they're very influential in the beef industry across the nation, but they always have much like different organizations like AG credits the farmer in the forefront. So it was an opportunity in grad school when I was there that I got to do some work with Alison Smith. And if, you know the Kentucky Beef Council, you should know Alison Smith because she is an icon. And I had to explain to her what an OG was one time because I call her the OG. So I got to work with her and help with some of the trainings that she was doing in the UK Meats Lab because I was a grad student under Dr. Renfro studying technically, it's Animal and Food Sciences because there's not a meat science track of its own. So I got exposed a little bit of what KCA and particularly the Kentucky Beef Council did to where when they were looking to hire a consumer affairs position for the Kentucky Beef Council, I took her to Dr. Renfro and said, I know you've worked with them for a number of years. What would I be getting myself into? And he's like, It's diversified. You'll learn a lot of different things. You really get an opportunity to work with farm families. You really get an opportunity to work with the industry. So I applied. And at that time, from what I've been told, that there was an opportunity to even diversify that role. So really they put a call out for one role, but it split into three. So there were three of us hired at the same time, myself, and then Nikki Ellis, who did education, and Kya Twitzelman, who did more really the consumer affairs role and kind of that marketing piece. So my title, which I think we can all agree that titles, sometimes they are just something you write on a business card. Right, because you get into a lot of different things. But my title is director of Product marketing. So really what I do a lot of is still talking about the technical meat side of things. But what I've done over the past years is really honed in that opportunity to help people feel more comfortable in the kitchen. I grew up love cooking. My mom was 100% Italian. Her parents came over with their parents, and the kitchen was always the heart of the home. So very much when it's a great opportunity to be on the Gourmet garden cooking stage at state fair and doing a beef demo or TV or events at a County Cattlemen's Association meeting showcasing what the check off does, working with family consumer science, 4-H any time I get in the kitchen. So it's essentially an opportunity to talk about beef in every aspect.

Shelby Wade (05:59)

Absolutely. When I was in College as well, I got to take one of Dr. Renfro's classes regarding the meat science, and I loved it as well. That was just a super cool class. I was kind of like you. Maybe at one point I thought I was going to go down the vet route.

Katelyn Hawkins (06:13)

Yeah.

Shelby Wade (06:13)

And then I really did like that the meat science part of it. I decided to go the Econ route.

Katelyn Hawkins (06:18)

I'll tell you, I wish I would have taken more AG Econ classes in the role than I am now, because as the office has grown and expanded and we created Beef Solutions as an LLC. So I do a lot of work with the Kentucky Cattlemen's ground beef product. I really wish I would have had some Ag Econ Classes under my belt.

Patrick Durham (06:36)

Katelyn, with your position with the Kentucky Beef Council, I think something that's very important that a lot of farmers ask a lot of questions because myself personally, I came from the livestock background, livestock marketing, working in stockyards across Kentucky. One of the questions I often heard a lot of farmers, the beef check off.

Katelyn Hawkins (06:58)

Right.

Patrick Durham (06:59)

Anytime an entity takes a dollar out of a farmer's pocket, they want to know where that money goes.

Katelyn Hawkins (07:05)

Correct.

Patrick Durham (07:06)

And I spent a lot of time explaining where that money went and what it was used for. Can you kind of explain and then go into some of those details what those dollars are spent for?

Katelyn Hawkins (07:17)

Of course, it's a wonderful question, because you're right. You see those deductions at the stockyard on your check or if it's private treaty or wherever it is, and you want to know where are these going to? So in Kentucky, we have a $2 ahead check off. So we did just have the federal or the national $1. Then we adopted the state check offs, and now we have two. So a $1.50 stays within Kentucky for us to utilize in the realms of marketing, promotion, advertising, research, education. And then $0.50 goes to Cattlemen's Beef Board from the national funds pool. And then they're contractors to the beef board, such as National Cattleman's Beef Association, which is a lot of the "Beef, it's what's for dinner" branding work. American Farm Bureau is a contractor. North American Meat Association, North American Meat Institute. Naomi is a contractor. But here in Kentucky, what we're utilizing those check off funds for is when you really boil it down, it's the promotion of beef, and it's getting people to understand and choose beef as a protein in their families meal times. So it's an opportunity to invest those dollars with different sponsorships, whether that be through regional opportunities, like we invested some of our state check off dollars within the Beef 300, which is a NASCAR race that was developed that a lot of different regional States put money into to where we could position beef in a spotlight through mainstream TV that hadn't been before and with an audience that is very protein heavy. So help beef be the protein that they're choosing. We do partnerships with even on the level of how do you talk to youth about beef? How do you lay that foundation as to, okay, when I grow up and it's my turn to Cook or my mom sends me to the grocery store to pick something up, it's overwhelming. Like what is there? So we do interactions with I'm talking all the way down from kindergarten, all the way up to College or even adult education, helping people not only feel comfortable with beef and cooking, it because you can burn things real quick. I like to tell everybody can Cook, but not everybody feels comfortable. So it's bridging that gap and getting them there. And it's the opportunity to when they go into a grocery store or when they go to a farmers market or they're working and wanting for the first time to buy freezer beef, how do they navigate those waters all the way from the cuts? Because there's a lot of them. The beef industry over the years have made a lot of different beef retail cuts. But it's packaging, too. So you have vacuum sealed packaging. And why is that? What are the benefits of it? Over wrapped trays, which that Styrofoam tray. How long is this going to stay in my fridge or my freezer all the way down to we look at opportunities to advertise beef, yes, in the traditional markets such as TV and radio, but in these new nontraditional markets, like podcasts, like we're doing right now or Facebook or anything digital, making sure that beef has a prominent presence everywhere you turn around, we can all agree to this. When you go to events, you like to have something to take home, right? Because it's fun, you got cool things. But there's strategy behind all of those promo items. From a business perspective, I'm not just going to buy random balloons. Right, because how's that going to sell beef, but we'll invest in pot holders that have beef. It's for dinner on them. Because when you go to use that at home. Well, our brand is right there. So it's like that kind of subliminal messaging almost. We find opportunities to do partnerships within the industry in the vein of research. So one of the things that we've looked at previously is putting some dollars into some of those federal research projects or national research projects around nutrition. Beef gets kind of a bad rap oftentimes, right? I mean, it's red meat, it's heavy grilled, it's carcinogens, it's all these things. But when you take a step back and you really look at the nutritional value. A three ounce portion of beef gives you 25 grams of protein and ten essential vitamins and nutrients. Most daily value of protein that you're going to get recommended is 50 grams. So that's half your daily value of protein. Those ten essential vitamins and nutrients are iron selenium, like all the things that you're going to need to function your body in general, but even keep brain health. I know there's a lot of misconceptions around. Well, is it heart healthy? Beef can be heart healthy. There are cuts of beef that have been certified by the American Heart Association. A lot of them are from the Sirloin, but regardless, it has a place right now, one of the things that we're addressing and looking at is beef in the early years. So how do you, with children, start incorporating some of that beef into their diet to lay the nutrient foundation that they need as their bodies grow and expand? So we utilize those funds. And we're very diligent about the funds because, let's be honest, I told you, my family raises mules. We don't raise cattle. So these funds, they're not mine because they're the check off pool. But my family didn't necessarily contribute to that. So we take to heart all of the investments because we know we have the pleasure and the opportunity of working on behalf of the entire beef industry, and we want to make sure that we're investing those dollars to things that will give back to the beef industry in the long run. 

Shelby Wade (12:34)

And I think you all do a great job, whether it's you out at events or some of your coworkers, anything that's involving agriculture. There's a beef booth there. And like you said, those giveaways a potholder. That's something that's not going to be thrown away. That's something that we use in any kitchen. So I love that idea for having potholder. And I've even seen maybe like pizza cutters and just all kinds of useful stuff that you guys have had.

Katelyn Hawkins (13:00)

Yeah. You got to get something they're going to keep using because I go to events and I throw away a lot of promo items that are in bags, but the good ones stick around.

Shelby Wade (13:08)

That's right.

Patrick Durham (13:10)

I had the opportunity years ago to go through the Kentucky Beef Cattle Leadership Conference. Wonderful leadership deal.

Katelyn Hawkins (13:18)

Yes.

Patrick Durham (13:18)

And one of the things that came from that, we spent some time in Chicago, and it was about the time that they came out with the Flatiron state.

Katelyn Hawkins (13:28)

Yeah.

Patrick Durham (13:29)

Well, I didn't realize the beef check off that helped develop those cuts and what not. We were actually in when they were doing some of those testing phases to see what those cuts were going to do. And I came away from that knowing, hey, this check off thing, it's really helping. It's developing new cuts, new ideas, promos and everything that you said. It's a great program.

Katelyn Hawkins (13:55)

It's an opportunity, too, because it's one thing to develop a new cut, right, or product or whatever have you, but it's another thing to then empower people to utilize it. So it becomes check off opportunity to get with those retail stores or restaurants or sales staff at whatever outlet it is distributors to help them understand the different cuts of beef. How do they answer questions for their customers? Alison Smith on our staff, she has a wonderful program with Bluegrass Hospitality Group, which is Malone's. They own those brands, Drakes, things like that. It's a waste of training. So they expect their employees to be able to answer questions about menu items. We as a beef industry, our first line of defense is someone that is selling the product. So it's the white staff, it's the butchers, it's the people that stock the shelves. So how do we get on their level and help them feel comfortable and confident in the product that's coming to them, that it's a farm family behind everything, whether you're buying beef from a farmer's market, a grocery store, a restaurant, there's a farmer and a family and a face behind everything. So I think now and a lot of this, it's always been the push. But I think the conversation around local has really driven this home in a lot of aspects is how do we tell the beef story effectively and how do we keep a farmer and his family or her family and whether they're a first generation or a multi-generation, help people resonate with that because it's just people talking to people at the end of the day and not everybody is comfortable putting their life on social media and that's perfect. But a simple conversation at the airport or the grocery store or the gas station can impact a consumer miles beyond what you think it can.

Cassie Johnson (15:49)

What are some ways that maybe as farmers we can talk to the community or when we get in one of those conversations.

Katelyn Hawkins (15:57)

That's a great question. I will say I am not a bashful person. So if I'm at the grocery store doing my weekly grocery run and I hear some people questioning, well, should I get this cut for this? I will totally jump in and give my two cent, which not everybody is crafted like that. But I think one of the greatest things is speak from what you do know. And it's very easy depending on how the conversation is going or how the person may be approached you because they can be harsh and argumentative. And I don't want to say uneducated, misinformed, misinformed. They may be misinformed. So it's oftentimes taking a breath before we jump in and remembering that they don't know a lot of things. You don't know what you don't know. So it's sharing your story with them, whether it's, well, I heard that beef is bad for you. Well, did you know that beef can be heart healthy? And if you don't know the facts, that's fine. You don't have to rattle off all these statistics and all the grams of protein, but it's understanding maybe where you can direct them to get resources.

Katelyn Hawkins (17:04)

So Kybeef.com is our website that we utilize. We update it with all sorts of different resources, whether it's recipes, whether it's content around sustainability, because that's a real big buzzword. But everybody has a different definition of it depending on what you're talking about, anything around the sun. So using Kybeef.com is a resource. Using Beef, it's for dinner as a resource or I think even if you're comfortable with this, showing them a little bit about what you do, whether that's a quick photo, you may have cows on your phone, whether that's if they're part of a community organization and they're looking for a field trip opportunity and you feel comfortable having them on your farm. Now, not everybody is comfortable with things like that. But it's just, I think, taking a moment to listen most importantly as to what their concerns are, what their questions are, and helping them understand that it's not all factory farming. It's not all bad agriculture. It's a community that will sacrifice itself oftentimes for its neighbor, and that will come to bat in times of need for each other. Kentucky, we're really fortunate. And when we go to conferences or we talk to other States, we forget how fortunate we are that agriculture in general is very strong in our state.

Katelyn Hawkins (18:20)

And yes, I may work for the beef industry and that commodity, but I also do some work with soybean and corn growers and pork, poultry and farm Bureau and things like that, because as a community, we have to work together to push agriculture forward. And I think as a consumer, even with my friends, they have a lot of questions. And I was talking to somebody on Monday and they were like, well, you must not like chicken or pork. And like I mean, I purchased it as a consumer. Do I like beef better? Yes, let's be real. But everything has a place. And as agriculture, we work together to get down the road further. And bacon is pretty good on cheeseburger, but I still want that cheeseburger to be the main focus.

Shelby Wade (19:07)

That's right. They go together hand in hand, right? Yeah. One thing you were mentioning in there was about the drive for local these days. And one of the positives, if any, that come out of covet that local drive for whatever it is, local shopping. Of course, it's no secret that we're dealing with some economic times. Inflation is pretty high. And of course, beef your highest. Usually your most expensive product. Right. So where do you see that as far as being a challenge currently amongst for consumers and also for farmers alike who are selling their products?

Katelyn Hawkins (19:42)

It sounds cliche to say we're in unprecedented times, but we're in this weird spot right now. Whether no matter what you believe or what your thoughts are on certain things. We can all agree that things are different than they were. And I think the opportunity for beef as yes, we do see retail prices are different than they were. Our opportunity then becomes to help consumers see how crafty they can get with our product. So it's helping them understand more. Okay. I typically like a Porterhouse. That's really great. But maybe my grocery store doesn't have it. Or maybe I had to spend more on diapers, formula, vegetables, whatever. Gas. We had a whole conversation around gas before we started this podcast. So okay, if you like Porterhouse, we'll have you considered maybe a strip steak, still a premium cut of beef if you want to go there, but oftentimes not as expensive as a Porterhouse, but a large portion of the Porterhouse is the strip steak. So kind of connecting those dots with them or. Well, I typically like this certain cut, whatever that is. How can we swap that out? How can we help you understand how to batch Cook or how do you understand that the seasonality of things. So we're going into summer grilling season. So ground beef and steaks really super popular, right? Roast not so much. So maybe they're priced lower than you typically would see them in the fall. So that's a great time to purchase them. Put them in your freezer if you got a freezer space.

Cassie Johnson (21:10)

Right.

Katelyn Hawkins (21:11)

Stocking up, buying in bulk. A lot of times you can see some price breaks when you're buying in bulk, whether that's at the grocery store or whether that's with a farm family that you're buying direct from. A lot of farm families we're seeing are making bundle boxes. So that also exposes people to different cuts of beef that maybe they wouldn't have seen before. It's being able to capitalize on this trend that we're seeing. Prices are getting higher, but people through COVID, they had to learn how to Cook. Again, I think all of us in agriculture can agree. None of us took a day off, but consumers, a lot of them sheltered in place. Right. They shuttered down. They transitioned to working from home, things like that. They just didn't get out like they did. So we see the trend that people are going to continue to Cook. Yes. They're going back to the restaurants as they should. That's great. We sell beef there too. So how do we keep them captivated by our protein, but give them the tools to be successful with it. So they keep putting it in their grocery cart as the grocery store cart continues to get higher and higher.

Cassie Johnson (22:11)

Now we obviously are having you on because May is Beef month and we wanted to get you on before we got into June too far. So what are some promotions that are going on for the Kentucky Cattlemens that you guys involved with? I know that Ag Credit is going to have the Madison County Beef Day we'll be there May 26. We're going to be serving free burgers for everybody in a drive through fashion. And we have Bourbon County is doing a Beef Day also on Friday, May 20. And we're going to be there representing. So what other events maybe that some people can join in on?

Katelyn Hawkins (22:50)

Yes. So May is Beef month. It's Beef Month, not only Kentucky, but nationally, but every month is beef month. Let's be real. I have to be cliche. Come on. You got to strike by the iron tot. But for Beef Month with the Kentucky Beef Council, we really like to maximize on that theme, not only with events that are going on. So if you're hosting an event and there's still plenty of time to host events for Beef Month, we can put together boxes that have cut charts or maybe some license plates or some recipe cards, things like that for you to utilize at your community events. Let us know about the event. We would love to either. If we can't make it on site. We'd love to still promote it through our social channels, things like that. We seek opportunities to do radio and TV and get out in the community, stuff like that so we can vocalize that voice of beef is healthy. Beef is great. Summer grilling's coming. Get ready for grilling season. Here's some quick tips on grilling beef. Here's some quick tips on grilling in general. But we like to have fun, too, and give back. So we will be hosting a giveaway on our website. That is a grill. Yes, it's a Weber Grill. You should all enter everyone in this room except me because I can't win because I work there. But everyone that's listening, too. So go to Kybeef.com. We are giving away a Weber grill, which is exciting. We also are doing some smaller giveaways on our social. So @KyBeef on Instagram Facebook, we'll be doing some smaller giveaways, too. That's getting you ready for grilling season, like aprons and tongs and things like that, T shirts because not thongs tongs.

Katelyn Hawkins (24:24)

Yes.

Katelyn Hawkins (24:31)

It's an opportunity to get people excited about beef and excited about grilling. For Beef month, we also have some featured highlighted recipes that we're promoting now. We promote a lot of different recipes all year round. There's tons of them @kybeef.com. But for Beef Month, specifically, when we're doing events or we're doing TV, radio, what we've been focusing on is a chimichurri marinated strip steak. It's real good, y'all. Sounds delicious. Real simple to make, too. So fresh ingredients. A lot of people either have put gardens in or a planting garden. So it's a great way to utilize some of those fresh herbs. We've got a farmer's market salad that it's not a lettuce based salad, like a lot of salads. You think maybe it's a Brown rice based salad with garbanzo beans and I think red Bell peppers, squash and asparagus with a nice cut of beef on top of it. So how do you integrate a lot of color into your plate if you kind of see this theme of color and beef and a nice vibrant plate that you're going to be putting in front of your families? And then we also have these two bite burgers that we're promoting.

Katelyn Hawkins (25:36)

So I saw those eyes get really big over there. Shelby. Yeah. I'm all about the burger. It's a nice slider component, but it's got three variations of a slider on it. So kind of testing the waters on your taste buds and getting you excited about burgers can be more than just ketchup, mustard and cheese and tomatoes. So there's a lot of different flavors you can pair with beef. And when we pick Beef Month recipes, we like to have a classic like a burger, because everybody feels safe with a burger. Everybody feels safe with a good whole muscle cut like a steak. So that strip steak chimichurri. But we want you to get creative and understand that beef takes on all sorts of different flavors. One of the simplest marinades that you can do at home is a bottle of Italian dressing and a cut of beef. And if you want to get a little jazzy and make it more Mexican theme, put some chili powder in there. There's no harm in using a premade marinade. There's no harm in using a premade spice blend. There's no harm in because I'm guilty of this all the time.

Katelyn Hawkins (26:32)

I will get home after a long day, a spoonful, peanut butter while I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to Cook. So when we do some trainings with beef, we do our version of chopped, where we give people here's some ingredients, make something out of it. It gets them excited because they get some hands on at first. They're like, oh, what am I going to do with all these random things? But it's an opportunity to get people excited around cooking and get them excited around beef, which gives them opportunity to come back for more.

Patrick Durham (27:04)

I have to say, I picked a really bad day not to stop and get lunch before I came in.

Katelyn Hawkins (27:09)

I didn't eat lunch either.

Patrick Durham (27:11)

Thanks for making me really hungry. On that note, now there is a website that you all have that people can go get these recipes before we leave the day. I think you need to share that, Kybeef.com. Yeah, Kybeef.com. Also, a lot of people listening that maybe is not familiar. They can go to that website or check in with your local extension office, check out the local farmers market. I know those guys. As long as with you all do a lot of work with them, the beef samples at a lot of farmers markets, people grilling check those out with recipes and all that stuff. They do a great job promoting as well.

Katelyn Hawkins (27:56)

100%. I mean, it's that network of you can't be everywhere all the time. So it's an opportunity to engage with extension or different organizations because we're helping each other. Agriculture is all about that community. So you're spoton there's. A lot of those Ag agents have gone through some of our trainings, and the extension offices have most of our resources, like the cut charts, the recipes. They know how to directly get a hold of us, things like that. But all of our contact information can be found @kybeef.com. We are a part of the Kentucky Cattlemen Association. I mean, there's firewalls, don't get me wrong, as far as funds go and things like that. But if you Google the Kentucky Cattleman Association office and you call that office and you want to talk about the check off, they'll direct you to one of us that works directly with the check off so we can answer all your questions, concerns, things like that. We love to be a resource for everyone. We particularly love to be a resource for the farmers because at the end of the day, it's your dollars that we're utilizing and we want to make sure that we're spending them in fashions that are going to benefit you.

Cassie Johnson (28:59)

So how can the farmers be more involved with the Kentucky Beef Council?

Katelyn Hawkins (29:04)

It's a great question, and I think really the best thing to do is share your story. Like I said earlier, whether that is on social media or whether that is just a casual conversation at the gas pump, because we're all working towards a common goal of increasing the demand for beef. Other opportunities become we do like to highlight the farm families, whether that be through some of our advertising campaigns, whether that be through some of the trainings that we do on farm. So if you would love to be a part of something like that or you feel comfortable being featured in some of those things, let us know, because we're always looking for new and exciting opportunities to showcase farm families. But we're also looking for opportunities to showcase different facets of the beef industry, whether that is a cowcalf operation, a backgrounding operation, whether you do grass finished grain finish, whether you're a stockyard, whether you're a person that owns a restaurant and you serve beef like all facets of the beef industry. This year's, I didn't mention this and I should have. I can't believe I didn't. But this year's Beef Month theme is #MyKybeefstory.

Katelyn Hawkins (30:16)

So it's very much around sharing that beef industry story all the way from the farmer to the chef and everything in between to the consumer as well. Because it is as an industry, we're so much reliant on other people to showcase our products because we raise it right, like we start everything, but then it's got to go through so many other hands that together we have to showcase this story and help people feel confident around not only agriculture, but feel confident within beef, too.

Cassie Johnson (30:49)

And that's a really great point that you made. Because I think that everybody loves to hear a story from the time that we're kids to the time that we're 80 years old. We want to know your story. And especially, like you said, with COVID and how that changed everybody's perspective. You know, when the shelves were bare at the grocery store and we didn't know where we were going to get our meat, we started selling beef off the farm at that point because we wanted to have some sort of additional income. And all people want to do is just know your story. They want to know about who you are, what you do and with the way that the cattle industry is and with the way that the markets are, any little thing that a farmer can do to help promote beef and farming in a positive light, to help let these people know what we do out here and how we do it is not always shed in the most positive light. And this is the true story.

Katelyn Hawkins (31:49)

It is. Honestly, it's beyond just the city people, because I grew up in a rural area and I had friends that had no concept of agriculture farming beef. They definitely didn't know mules. So it's helping just even your communities understand in your counties and things like that. I think oftentimes in the agriculture industry, we take for granted and we think, well, they should just know, but they don't know. And they're served so many opportunities to get misinformation everywhere you took turn around radio, TV, Google blogs in school, you're taught well, Wikipedia is not a verified resource. And you're so frustrated in those moments. Right. But now in my career, I'm like, man, I'm really glad Wikipedia is not a verified resource. Or you can't call a student can't use that in a term paper because it can be edited by so many people. So really, content that's delivered to people can be edited by so many people that we as agriculture have to be willing and confident to put ourselves out there to say, okay, I understand you're saying that. However, let's talk about the reality of what's going on here. If you're having those moments of doubt as far as how do I share my story, how do I go about this?

Katelyn Hawkins (33:16)

What materials or tools are provided out there? Give us a call, because we will help you understand where your resources are. We're here to help each other. Next week, May 19, for Kentucky Beef Council, we're going to be hosting a Beef Advocacy Training out of the Bluegrass Stockyards in the Yards classroom as a centralized location. So if you're interested in going through something like that, visit Kybeef.com. All the information is there to sign up. I know I mentioned that we do trainings with retail and things like that, but we've got resources for you. If you're selling freezer beef or if you own a local grocery store, things like that, cut charts, recipes, if you own a Butcher shop and you just want to have some materials on hand. We've got some infographics that are three simple steps to grilling, three simple steps to skillet cooking, things like that that you can have at your fingertips when you get those questions. Because I guarantee that if you're selling beef off of your farm, at a farmer's market or wherever, someone is going to ask you at some point, how do I cook this or what do I do with this cut of beef?

Katelyn Hawkins (34:25)

Because maybe they're looking for a cut of beef that you don't have, but you got something else. So we have infographics on stake swaps. Even if you don't hand that to someone, you have that knowledge and you feel confident in answering a lot of those questions. All of these tools and materials and things like that were created with those check off dollars. Whether they were created by our staff with Kentucky check off dollars or they were created with national check off dollars, they are yours to utilize.

Shelby Wade (34:52)

That's great to know and great information. I have viewed those myself, and it really is just wonderful information. And like I said, it's so easy to follow and it's great to have to pass out to customers or whatever. Really easy and really simple. My personal favorite is the pairing of wine with beef. That was my favorite.

Katelyn Hawkins (35:13)

But I talked about that last week at a Derby festival event.

Shelby Wade (35:16)

Yes.

Katelyn Hawkins (35:17)

And that goes to show you, like I feel on the vein of beef and wine. I think there's this misconception that beef has to just be paired with. It's a ribeye steak with a really bold, hearty red wine. No, that's not true. Not everybody loves red wine. Not everybody loves wine at all. But you can have a nice Thai salad with a white wine. You can have a steak salad with a rose. You can pair beer and beef. You can pair bourbon and beef. You can pair. I mean, I told you to put Italian salad dressing with a steak and a marinade. There's a lot of possibilities out there, ladies and gentlemen. Yeah.

Cassie Johnson (35:55)

Well, Katetlyn, it has been an absolute pleasure to have you with us today on Beyond Agriculture. Again, May 19, Katelyn will be out at the Bluegrass Stockyards in Lexington.

Katelyn Hawkins (36:06)

Yes, we're doing that beef advocacy training, so our staff will be out there. If you got your cow country news.

Cassie Johnson (36:13)

Then look for the Ag Credit ad on the back page.

Katelyn Hawkins (36:16)

I love it. Yes. And you can also find the calendar of events that we're going to be at for the month of May. We are continuing to add events. So also follow us on social media and you can track where we're going.

Cassie Johnson (36:29)

Wonderful. And be sure to look for the Ag credit tent at the Bourbon County Beef Day, May 20. And then if you guys are down in Madison County area around May 26, be sure to check us out at the Ag credit building. We're going to be doing a drive through where we'll be serving free Kentucky Cattlemen's hamburgers. We'll have the Kentucky Beef Council there. We'll have Farm Bureau bluegrass stockyards and I hope I'm not missing any of the other sponsors but it's an awesome event and we look forward to seeing you, Katelyn again. Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy month and stopping in at a credit to talk to us today anytime.

Katelyn Hawkins (37:08)

We always have time. If there's questions or if you guys want to know anything, I just really like to talk to people so anytime.

Cassie Johnson (37:16)

Thanks for listening to Beyond Agriculture. Be sure to like subscribe and share our podcast with all your family and friends. We'll see you guys next time.

Speaker 5 (37:25)

This episode of Beyond Agriculture is brought to you by Central Kentucky Aggress. Thanks for listening to the podcast. Be sure to visit Agreditonline.com Beyond Agriculture access the show notes and discover our fantastic bonus content. Also don't forget to hit the subscribe button so you can join us next time for beyond agriculture.