Former Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo is this year’s keynote speaker for the 2022 Hemphill County/Texas A&M AgriLife Beef Conference, scheduled for April 26-27 here at Jones Pavilion in Canadian.

Pompeo—an American politician, diplomat, and businessman—served under former President Donald Trump as director of the CIA from 2017 to 2018, and as the 70th United States secretary of state from 2018 to 2021. Pompeo headlines the twoday program, along with Keni Thomas, a member of the 3rd Ranger Battalion that captured criminal warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid, in a dangerous and deadly mission that was later immortalized in the book and movie, Black Hawk Down.

“It is my opinion that this is the most important conference we have had, to date, for so many reasons,” said conference organizer and Hemphill County AgriLife Agent Andy Holloway.

“First, the spiraling and raging inflation that is affecting every segment, including and especially the beef cattle industry,” Holloway said, citing the fact that grain prices have doubled and fuel prices are up 75 percent as just two factors affecting the cattle industry.

“Secondly,” he said, “the geopolitical circumstances around the world from the Ukrainian situation, the China supplychain problems, and unstable governments are directly affecting American agriculture.”

Holloway said the third, and biggest, factor impacting ranchers is the drought. “This one trumps everything else,” he said. “We, in this region, are about to be in another 2011-12 kind of drought. Beef cattle producers will have to make many difficult decisions regarding their herds, the range, and our way of life.”

“There will be a lot of takehomes from this event,” Holloway said.

Holloway makes a convincing case for attendance at this year’s conference, whose speakers will address all of those issues that affect not only the cattle industry, but our community, county, and region.

The conference kicks off at 7 am on Tuesday, April 26, with registration and the opening of the trade show, with more than 80 exhibitors and vendors, including the new title sponsor Capital Farm Credit, Silver Sponsor Amarillo National Bank, and 14 other corporate sponsors.

At 8:45 am, Donnell Brown, owner of the fifth-generation R.A. Brown Ranch in Throckmorton, will open the morning session. The Brown Ranch, a family-owned business since 1895, raises registered Angus, Red Angus, and SimAngus cattle. They have been honored with many awards, including the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association’s Cattle Business of the Century Award.

State Rep. Ken King (HD 88), of Canadian, will welcome conference attendees. King is serving his fifth term in office, representing 17 counties in the Panhandle and South Plains. King currently chairs the House Culture, Recreation, and Tourism Committee, and is a member of both the Public Education Committee and the Energy Council. King is president of Black Gold Pump and Supply, Inc., here in Canadian, and is a member of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association and the Texas Farm Bureau.

At 9 am, U.S. Rep. Ronny Jackson (TX-13) will speak on the topic of “How Politics in Washington, D.C. Are Affecting Beef Cattle Producers.” Dr. Jackson was raised in Levelland; attended undergraduate school at Texas A&M; and, after his graduation from medical school, began active-duty service in the United States Navy, serving in Iraq on a surgical shock trauma platoon. He served as physician to the president from 2013 to 2018, serving both former presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump. Now in his first term as a congressman, he serves on both the House Armed Services and Foreign Affairs committees.

At 9:15 am, Troy Applehans, CattleFax cow/calf and stocker market analyst, will offer up-to-date cattle market analyses and research information that will help producers make better bottom-line marketing and management decisions.

At 10:30 am, Dr. Sarah Place will address the question, “Is Ranching Really Sustainable, and What’s All the Carbon Talk About?” Place is the chief sustainability officer at Elanco, where she provides technical expertise on sustainability issues and supports Elanco’s healthy purpose. Prior to that, she was a senior director for sustainable beef-production research at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, and an assistant professor in sustainable beef-cattle systems at Oklahoma State University.

Pompeo will be the featured speaker at the noon barbeque luncheon, and the guest of honor at a VIP reception at 1:30 pm that afternoon.

As secretary of state during the Trump administration, Pompeo helped to craft U.S. foreign policy based on putting America first. Prior to joining the Trump administration, Pompeo was serving his fourth term as congressman from Kansas’ 4th District. Before serving in Congress, he spent a decade leading two manufacturing business in South Central Kansas, including Thayer Aerospace, which he founded, and Sentry International. Pompeo graduated first in his class at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and served as a cavalry officer, patrolling the Iron Curtain before the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Dr. Molly McAdams, Texas Beef Council CEO, will open the afternoon session at 2:30 pm, speaking on the subject of “New Research to Add Value to Cow/Calf Producers Herds, Fake Meat, and New TBC Promotions.” As the daughter of a veterinarian, McAdams has focused on beef throughout her career because it’s her personal protein of choice. Her educational background reflects that lifelong focus, with both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in animal science and meat science from the University of Florida, and a doctorate in agriculture from Texas Tech.

Jason Barber takes over the podium at 4 pm to discuss “Beef Cattle Marketing Utilizing Technology.” Barber is an employee of Superior Livestock Auction, which is North America’s largest cattle merchandiser. Barber manages the Purebred Division which broadcasts approximately 800 production sales across the United States annually between Superior Productions and LiveAuctions.tv. He also manages the Superior Progressive Genetics Value Added program for the commercial cattle side of Superior. Barber is a partner and cofounder of SmartAuctions, which is a timed auction platform that does 300-plus auctions annually and has gained major ground in the seedstock industry the past few years. He was raised on Barber Ranch, where he is a partner in his family’spurebred Hereford operation in the Texas Panhandle near Channing.

A 5 pm social hour will offer more opportunities to peruse the trade show. At 6 pm, a dinner of certified Hereford prime rib will be accompanied by a presentation from American Hereford Association Executive VP and CEO Jack Ward on “Opportunities Ahead for Cow/Calf Producers Using Genetic Technology.” Ward came to his position grounded by a lifetime of experience in the beef seedstock industry and armed with a degree in agricultural economics from Purdue University. During his tenure, he has helped lead the development of breed-changing, industry-leading programs, such as wholeherd performance reporting, genomic-enhanced expected progeny differences, and relevant economic selection indexes. He continues to champion the need for more precision in genetic evaluation as critical to not only Hereford breeders but to the commercial cow/calf producers they serve. Ward leads the association’s charge to develop programs that help commercial producers add and retrieve more value from using Hereford genetics.

The evening will close with the presentation of the 2022 Rancher of the Year Award at 7 pm.

To register for the conference, go online to https://www.hemphillcotxbeef.com/register-tickets, where online ticket sales are available. General admission tickets are $150/person, with spouse tickets available for $125. Participants who prefer to attend the conference online may purchase tickets for $125, as well. For more information, contact christa.perry@ag.tamu.edu or call 806.323.9114.

Report on Day Two of Beef Conference will be published in next week’s Record