My fourth week began with what I now looked forward to as the intense few hours of class on Monday. After class, I made my way back to my apartment for a quick lunch before walking over to a friends house for a few hours before class. We jumped in her truck and headed to Sales class, the last official session for the semester. Upon arriving in Sales class, we went over each task the students had for Friday and ensured we knew our accountabilities. Then we worked together to arrange grand stands, tables, chairs and other equipment for Friday’s K-State Legacy Sale (Image below is on sale day, although you can see the work that goes into the setup!). Tuesday began lazily before I was picked up by some friends for a Taco lunch where I tried peanut butter and beef tacos. I can’t say that eating that combination together was something I thought I’d do but it was surprisingly delicious. The girls dropped me to class for the afternoon where we received information on two pens of cattle, in two separate feedyards, we were to be ‘following’ for the rest of the semester. We listened to the feedlot manager, cattle owner and feedlot owner talk about the stats on the cattle, where they were sourced from and what their marketing destination was to be. An informative lesson which I’m sure I will be adding to.
Wednesday started with the same flurry of classes as Monday but with a few highlights. The first was organised a few days ago when the professor for the international studies class contacted me and asked for me to present to his class. The class is going to Australia next week and the professor wanted me to give any tips and tricks for the land down under. So I arrived to the class, of which some of my friends are in, and listened to a few presentations given by students on a topic relevant to their Australia trip. Although the information in those presentations was pretty basic, I actually learnt something about my own country! I then got up and gave the class a quick run down on what to expect, before we went through classic Aussie slang they might encounter. The class thought it was hilarious and we all had a good laugh. The second highlight of the day was soon after the Australia class had ended, as another student and I headed to the Livestock Judging Team’s weekly practice. After expressing my interest in livestock and meat judging, I was offered the chance to sit in on the team’s weekly training sessions. I jumped at the chance, and although we were focusing on pig judging, I learnt a lot! What I did not expect however, was that the training session was to go for almost 4 hours (5:30pm to 9:15pm), so I was glad I managed to sneak out around 8pm!
On Thursday morning, I made my way to the lab in Weber hall where the Animal Repro practical class is held. I met with the grad students taking the class and listened and observed while the girls took the class over male histology slides under the microscope. The class then experienced the creativity of the girls again where they used all types of candy including marshmallows, skittles and liquorice to create a 3D diagram of sperm production. Everyone thought it was a great time, easy learning and the sugar high had hit before 9am! I left the practical class for a quick lunch before heading to my Beef Systems class that afternoon. We were lucky enough to have Lorna Marshall of Select Sires and Brad Morgan of Performance Food Group present to our class. Both presentations were extremely interesting, but I really enjoyed Lorna’s facts on the AI and ET business, particularly in the dairy sphere. Almost all dairy cows are AI’d, with a high percentage cows being AI’d with female sexed semen. In direct correlation with this, from now on, all dairy semen is sexed to ensure dairies can adequately select for higher numbers of female calves. In comparison, only 7 to 12 percent of beef cattle in the US are AI’d, and although sexed beef semen is available, it is not as commonly used (with cost being a factor - $1 to create a unsexed straw of semen, $15 for a sexed straw of semen). Another interesting fact was learning that dairy herds are often genetically tested to determine the top and bottom 50% of the herd. The top 50% of the dairy herd is then AI’d with sexed dairy semen with the aim of getting a live heifer calf. Growing in popularity, the bottom 50% of the dairy herd is then AI’d with beef semen to achieve a dairy beef cross calf. This cross instantly increases the calf’s value by at least $100 and also creates a beef product that is accepted into feedlot, and other, scenarios. I found this fascinating and really enjoyed the comparisons between the beef and dairy industries. Then, Brad spoke about his role at Performance Food Group and how they contributed to a sustainable price for all stakeholders along their beef supply chain while consistently achieving a premium product. As a broad line distributor company, Brad also mentioned that once they had sold beef to a client, it was much easier to sell the extras such as napkins and cutlery. This was a really interesting concept and one that I knew nothing about. Overall, it was a very informative and entertaining couple of hours broken up by a nice little bit of afternoon tea.
Following the Beef Systems class, I had a little over an hour to meet Dr Corah, who was kind enough to offer me a ticket to and escort me to the 2019 Stockmen of the Year Awards dinner. We arrived at the venue to a typical beef industry event where everyone knows everyone and there was plenty of food and drinks. After seeing a few familiar faces and catching up with Debbie and Duane Lyons-Blythe, we all moved in for dinner. I sat with Debbie and Duane, Cassie Kniebel and her family and some of their close friends. While listening to comments on the man awarded Stockman of the Year, we enjoyed a premium rib eye steak from US Premium Beef. It was a great night!
Friday rolled around and it was sale day! I made my way to Weber hall that morning where Cattlemen’s day was being held. I met a few girls in Weber area where there was a trade show type setup with stallholders spread around. The girls and I wandered the stalls and chatted for a while before it was time for us to go. There were several presentations being held throughout the day but unfortunately I couldn’t make them - sale duties called! Mandy, a friend from my Sales class, and I went into Aggieville for a quick pulled pork taco lunch before heading out to the sale facility. The rest of the early afternoon was spent prepping last minute items, ensuring everyone knew their jobs and for Mandy and I, receiving a crash course in registering bidders and settling sales. The crowd slowly started filing in from 3pm for a 4pm start and we thought our registrations job was quite casual. It wasn’t until just before 4pm when every man and his dog wanted a bidder number and we were in a half an hour flurry of trying to get people organised. Finally we got everyone sorted and happy and the sale began in earnest. I got the opportunity to sneak away from my job (it was on hold until settlements began) to watch some of the bulls and heifers be sold. The buyers weren’t too shy and almost every bull sold above the reserve price. It was also really nice to spot the students around the ring in various jobs - a pretty cool way to sit an exam for a class if you ask me! As the sale concluded, we moved backed to our position and started to finalise settlements. Eventually, the keg was opened, the last buyer was chased up and the gear was cleared away. The buzz of the day was wearing off and Mandy and I made tracks soon after. It was long however before I was picked up by another group of girls for ’Nancy’s’ (beer and pineapple juice - surprisingly nice!) and bean dip in Aggieville. After a few giggles and drinks it was finally time for bed, and a quiet weekend. I was especially looking forward to bunking down as the weather was making a cool turn, with a fresh top of -12 degrees celsius for Sunday. Cuppa tea and a movie it is!
