Dive into FarmFest

I have attended FarmFest many years ago with my family working the Cattlemen's booth and serving sandwiches. It was so great to catch up with people I haven't seen in a while and even meet some new people. Whenever I have attended previously, I was there volunteering for the Minnesota State Cattlemen's and my dad talked policy. But the beef council doesn't handle policy, so FarmFest had a new job for me.

I focused my time on promoting the beef checkoff to producers. The biggest comment I heard was "you are spending our money to tell us what you are spending our money on." Luckily, when I was in San Diego last week, I learned how to talk about this point. Producers are curious about what the beef council is up to and learning about various promotional events we are working on. It is important for the future of the checkoff to show producers the important work the beef council is working on.

One of the biggest differences between cattlemen's and beef council is policy work and funding. FarmFest is a major fundraiser for the cattlemen's whereas the beef council gets their dollar whenever cattle are sold. I enjoyed learning more about the similarities and differences while catching up with fellow producers at FarmFest.