With dairy cattle testing positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza for the first time a few weeks ago, this episode is to give California beef producers an update on the situation. 

Joining Katie to have this conversation and talk through what producers should know about the virus, current industry concerns, how it is being monitored and more is Dr. Tom Talbot, veterinarian and cattle rancher in Bishop, California. Tom is also a past CCA President and remains an active member of the Association.

Since December, San Diego County cattle rancher John Austel has served as a CCA Second Vice President. In this episode, learn more about John, the unique perspective he brings to the officer team, and his time as a CCA officer so far. John also shares about the experience of running his regenerative, natural Angus herd on the California Department of Fish and Wildlife Ecological Reserve Rancho Jamul—a property that was part of an old Spanish Land Grant with a history of over 250 years of agricultural use. 

CCA’s Vice President of Government Affairs Kirk Wilbur joins Katie for this year's first CCA legislative update on the podcast. 

Assemblymember Jim Wood was elected to California’s Assembly 10 years ago to serve the North Coast. In that time, he has become a good friend of CCA's. In this conversation, hear why Asm. Wood has a kinship for cattle ranching, why he loves CCA's Steak & Eggs Breakfast, about the handful of priorities he's worked on in the legislature that positively impact ranchers and more. 

Have you ever worried about the mental health of someone you love or know in a rural area? You're not alone. On this episode, Vice President of Communications for Rural Minds Julie Lux, shares about the mental health emergency America's rural communities are facing and provides resources to help be part of the solution to this crisis. Learn about the Rural Mental Health Resilience Program, the goal of the program and how you can access materials for free.

Episode Resources:
Rural Minds: How to start a conversation about mental health factsheet

Visit ruralminds.org/resilience for all the factsheets, materials and information we talked about on this episode.

NCBA’s Director of Animal Health and Food Safety Policy Rebecca Barnett joins Katie at the 2024 CattleCon in Orlando. Rebecca grew up in Adin, Calif. and attended UC Davis. Hear about her journey to Washington D.C. and what issues she is tackling with NCBA, including traceability.

Episode Resources:
NCBA Backs FAIR Labels Act to End Deceptive Fake Meat Labeling Practices
2024 NCBA Legislative Conference
RSVP for CCA's Steak & Eggs Legislative Breakfast

If you're heading to Red Bluff don't miss this episode. If you're not going, listen to this update anyways! CCA's Membership and Events Coordinator Gracie LeCheminant along with Jack Rice and Noah Lopez of the Rancher Technical Assistance Program join Katie to talk about the new "Ag Hub" that will be in the tradeshow at the Red Bluff Bull & Gelding Sale.

At the end of this episode, hear what’s in the Loading Chute for CCA. This will be a rundown of quick updates from other CCA staff including a quick leg update, previews of what’s to come on this podcast and more.

Episode resources:
https://www.calcattlemenfoundation.org/redbluff

Welcome to Season 4! On this first episode, CCA President Steve Arnold and CCA 1st Vice President Rick Roberti join host Katie Roberti to talk through priorities for the year, officer goals and why California cattle ranchers can be optimistic about the year ahead .

Episode resources:
Get to know each of CCA's officers  at calcattlemen.org/cca-officers.
Learn more about RTAP at calcattlemenfoundation.org/RTAP. 

CattleFax Analyst Patrick Linnell recently provided a cattle and beef market outlook in Thursday morning’s general session at the 107th CCA and CCW Convention. Following the session, Patrick sat down with Katie to talk about some of the highlights and key points for California cattle producers, including what CattleFax predicts cattle prices will look like in 2024. 

On this episode we talk about the impact the California Beef Council is making on school nutrition in California and how they are keeping beef on school lunch menus. To have that conversation,  registered dietician and CBC’s Director, Food & Nutrition Outreach Kori Dover is us on the podcast for the first time.

Episode resources:

• Click here to see the photo of the school lunch Kori worked with San Diego Unified School District on to create the recipe for Biarria tacos, which we discuss in the episode.
• To stay up to date with this work, subscribe to the California Beef Council's monthly e-newsletter by clicking here or visiting https://www.calbeef.org/beef-producers.

CCA Feeder Chair Joe Dan Cameron and Vice Chair Mike Sulpizio provide an update on the feeder sector of California’s beef industry. Learn about Imperial Valley, what it is like feeding cattle in that community and more on this episode.

CCA's Vice President of Government Affairs Kirk Wilbur provides an update on this year's legislative session, 30x30 and more. 

Jimmy Maxey and Mike Smith, two California cattlemen and past members of the board that runs the Beef Checkoff, known as the Cattlemen’s Beef Board, join Katie to explain how the Cattlemen’s Beef Board operates, including who is on the board and how decisions of what gets funded are made.

Episode Resources:

• Producer Communications Article from current CBB board member
• Visit DrivingBeefDemand.com to keep up with the CBB board. 

Having recently been on Capitol Hill, Central Coast cattle rancher Kevin Kester discusses the current situation in Washington, D.C. On this episode hear:

• How the odds of a government shutdown became high
• What the road to getting a new Farm Bill passed may look like
• Why dollars given to CCA’s political action committee are crucial. 

This episode is first time we are talking about the  Wolf-Livestock Compensation Pilot Program through the California Dept. of Fish and Wildlife. Joining Katie to have this conversation and explain what is available to ranchers through this pilot program is Dr. Ken Tate, a UC Davis Professor of Extension in Rangeland Management—who many listening may know for his research on water quality. We also have Dr. Tina Saitone,  a UC Davis Professor of Extension in Livestock and Rangeland Economics.

Episode resources: 

• CDFW Wolf Livestock Compensation Grants Webpage 
• Contact Dr. Ken Tate at kwtate@ucdavis.edu
• Contact Dr. Tina Saitone at tlsaitone@ucdavis.edu

The Animal Ag Alliance’s president and CEO Hannah Thompson-Weeman joins Katie for an update on animal rights activism and the work the Alliance does to keep up on tactics and movements within that community. Hear about trends/topics the Alliance is seeing from the animal rights community, activism movements and news in California and more.

Check out https://animalagalliance.org to learn more about the Animal Ag Alliance. 

Do you know what county Climate Action Plans are and why ranchers should be aware of them? If you have no idea, tune in to this episode to hear Noah Lopez with Western Resource Strategies and the California Cattlemen’s Foundation’s Rancher Technical Assistance Program, along with San Diego County ranchers Allison and Bryce Fender explain what these plans are and why ranchers should be know about them.

Episode resources: 

• In the episode we mention a paper put together by Western Resources Strategies called "Range Cattle in California County Climate Action Plans: a rancher's guide to understanding and engaging in climate action planning." Check out that paper here.
  
  
• We also mention the "Climate Issues Update for Ranchers" webinar that was recently held. If you missed that webinar you can watch the recording of it here.

CCA’s VP of Gov. Affairs Kirk Wilbur joins to provide an update on all CCA’s government affairs team has been working on in Sacramento in the 2023 legislative session.  Hear about CCA's earlier successes and remaining legislative priorities as the race towards the end of session on Sept. 14 begins.

Experts from the California Dept. of Food and Agriculture join Katie to go over the laws of mobile custom livestock slaughtering in California. Hear how a law that went into effect last year impacts mobile custom livestock slaughtering and how it removed limitations for some producers.

Visit https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/AHFSS/MPES/  for more information and resources.

In October of 2020, Governor Newsom signed an executive order to conserve 30% of California’s land and coastal water by 2030. In this episode Jennifer Norris, Deputy Secretary for Biodiversity and Habitat at the California Natural Resources Agency provides an update for ranchers on this goal and explains the strategy.
 
In this conversation hear how:

•  the 30x30 plan incorporates working with ranchers and livestock producers to reach the 30%;
•  increasing voluntary conservation easements is part of the strategy;
•  to find out of if any of the acres you manage are eligible to be counted in the 30%;
• and more.

Learn more and see the toolkit mentioned in this episode at https://www.californianature.ca.gov/pages/resources.

Watch the Pathways to 30x30 Webinar: Pathway 3, Increasing Voluntary Conservation Easements talked about in this episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhjhjdPqoxI.

Email your 30x30 questions to the Agency: californianature@resources.ca.gov.

Secretary of the California Dept. of Food and Agriculture Karen Ross was one of the many speakers at CCA's Midyear Meeting in Paso Robles last week (June 21-22). In this episode, the Secretary shares the strategic objectives of  Ag Vision, a plan developed by CDFA for the next decade.

CDFA says, "The plan—which will guide areas of focus for CDFA and serve as a catalyst for action with farmers and ranchers, and other California agencies and partners—is being hailed as not just a plan for agriculture, but a plan to benefit every Californian."

See the full plan: https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/agvision/docs/AgVision_2023_Plan.pdf.

Certified Angus Beef’s Senior Executive Vice President of Marketing Tracey Erickson spoke on branded beef marketing and Beef x Dairy at CCA's 2023 Feeder Meeting. In this interview with Tracey hear about some of the highlights from the presentation and learn a little about the Certified Angus Beef program.

At CCA’s Annual Feeder Meeting last week, Katie caught up with CCA’s Feeder Council Chair Joe Dan Cameron. Listen as they discussion current issues and concerns from cattle feeders in California. 

CCA Fire Subcommittee Chair Anthony Stornetta is back on the podcast to discuss the outlook for the upcoming wildfire season in California, share how the livestock pass and burn boss classes are going and talk about what the state’s fire resiliency efforts have consisted of over the last several months.

This episode of Sorting Pen is a conversation we originally recorded for WSR's Insurance Unscripted  Podcast! 

In this episode, host Katie Roberti talks with two California beekeepers on the current challenges and issues facing beekeepers and the industry. Hear how the challenges of the bee business compare to those of ranching, and how the opportunities and challenges the American Beekeeping Federation is tackling are similar to those of CCA’s and other agricultural groups.

Guests on the episode with Katie:

• Jay Miller, owner of J2 Honey Company and incoming president of the American Beekeeping Federation
• Dylan Kelly, owner of Ag Pollen Apiaries and beekeeper
• Stephanie Myers, co-owner of WSR, apiculture sales manager and fourth generation cattle rancher 

WSR Insurance is the exclusive insurance broker of the California Cattlemen’s Association.