Pacific Northwest Young Cattlemen's Conference

I recently attended a Young Cattlemen's Conference focusing on the cattle industry in the Pacific Northwest literally from pasture to plate. A group of approximately 120 young members of the cattle industry traveled to Pasco, WA to meet up and travel to a cutting edge dairy, a cow-calf operation, tour the Simplt feedlot and the Tyson meat packing plant. While at Simplot/Tyson we had an amazing BBQ beef lunch! In addition to the tours, PNW YCC attendees were able to listen to some world-class speakers from the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, U.S. Meat Exchange, University of California-Chico, Colorado State University and Beef Northwest. We were treated to a prime rib dinner where as a group we were able to pick the brains of these speakers to find out more about the topics they talked about. The dinner was yummy and me being me snagged an end piece because I'm not a rare meat eater. It had all the seasoning an actually Jenna took the rest of what I couldn't eat because of that, and her's was super rare!

The next day we travelled to La Grande, OR and attended the 6th annual Cattlemen's Workshop, which featured the speakers we were able to chat with the previous night. I learned a lot and it was very interesting, but after closing down the bar two nights in a row I was having trouble staying awake. I am so proud of myself thought becuase I managed to stay awake and even take notes! And that's actually a big accomplishment for me with the whole thyroid thing - your energy levels deplete three times faster than a normal person. I am a walking miracle! ;) Lunch was BBQ'd beef and salads prepared by the local cattlemen's group. It was super yummy but I can't remember the last time I ate so much beef. After the conference we traveled back to Pasco and traveled home. The next day I do believe I slept most of the day away after returning home from a gun show. Nothin' says conservative like clinging to your guns (and religion) right?

Shifting gears I think attending the PNW YCC will help me greatly in my preparation and candidacy for the Ft. Peck extension job I am interviewing for on Feb. 9th in Poplar, MT. I'm not really concerned about the interview but I needed a refresher course on the buzz words and the PNW YCC was perfect. If selected I would be the agriculture and 4H/youth development extension agent for the Ft. Peck reservation. I am trying not to get my hopes up but I feel confident that I would be an excelletn choice. My main concern right now is putting together my presentation and finding a way to get there. One thing at a time, all things in succession right?

Ok, so here is your website to checkout and gather some awesome recipies for...you guessed it, beef. YAY!
http://www.beeffordinner.com/  and it even has a mobile compenant. Enjoy! :)