Last week, our family attended and sold bulls at the Black Hills Stock Show in Rapid City, S.D. While there, I was pleased to see our South Dakota Junior Beef Ambassadors hard at work promoting beef and teaching attendees about beef cuts, dispelling beef myths and putting on educational forums to share our production story with the public.

Seeing those kids in their beef t-shirts brought back fond memories of me serving as a Junior Beef Ambassador starting as a ten-year old and going on to be a National Beef Ambassador in 2006 as a college freshman.

I like to think that my time spent promoting beef helped to boost beef demand, but on the flip side, I’m grateful that our industry thought it would be beneficial to invest time, money and energy into kids like me. The experience certainly opened a lot of doors for me, and it’s awesome to see so many former Beef Ambassadors working as leaders in our industry today.

Even more fun is seeing the next generation of ambassadors, my own daughter included, getting involved as advocates for the beef cattle business that we love. The future looks bright when talking with these kids, and if you ever have the opportunity to mentor a young beef leader, please get involved and show them the many career avenues and roles that may fit their skillsets as they grow up.

Related:How youth Beef Ambassadors are tackling hot industry topics

It’s with great excitement that I share a new crop of advocates who will be working on our behalf.

The American National Cattlewomen (ANCW) recently announced the new Collegiate Beef Advocacy team.

Similar to the old Beef Ambassador program, the collegiate advocacy program aims to engage talented youth in serving as a voice for the beef community. It also aims to match students with career networks, enhance their beef knowledge and provide them with valuable leadership and communication skills as they promote the beef cattle industry.

Congratulations to the two winners of the 2021 Collegiate Beef Advocacy Program — Carli Eubank of Pocasset, Okla. and Kathryn Slavick of Mandan, N.D. The winners were selected at the ANCW annual meeting Feb. 5, 2021.

According to the ANCW, “During their year of service, the two recipients will host a beef advocacy program on their college campus, engage in social media efforts promoting beef, and pursue opportunities to connect with peers by sharing the positive story of beef. The students will also travel the nation to participate in industry events. Each winner will earn a $2,000 scholarship.

“Eubank is an Agribusiness and Agricultural Communications double major with a minor in Agricultural Real Estate Appraisal at Oklahoma State University (OSU) in Stillwater. She is an active member of Sigma Alpha, a professional agricultural sorority and in 2020 she was recognized as the OSU Collegiate Cattlewoman of the Year. Ms. Eubank calls her family’s cow-calf operation in southwest Oklahoma home. She is the daughter of Steve and Lana Eubank.

Related:A final salute to Vietnam veteran & beef industry icon Bill Broadie

“Slavick is an Animal Science and Microbiology major with a minor in Pre-Veterinary Medical Sciences at North Dakota State University (NDSU) in Fargo. She currently serves as President for NDSU Collegiate Cattlewomen and is an NDSU Ag Ambassador. Ms. Slavick is the fifth generation on her family’s ranch in south-central North Dakota. She is the daughter of Robert and Kathleen Slavick.”

I look forward to seeing what these new advocates accomplish in the upcoming year. Congratulations and best wishes with this new opportunity!

The opinions of Amanda Radke are not necessarily those of beefmagazine.com or Farm Progress.