PEOPLE IN THE NEWS

RancHER is a column spotlighting female leaders in the beef industry. In this issue, we are featuring Lesley Schmidt, a fifth-generation cattle rancher and farmer in Kansas. She has worked on her family farm all her life and has worked off the farm as a civil designer and a track and field official for almost 12 years. In addition to her on- and off-the-farm jobs, Schmidt serves as vice president of education for American Agri-Women.

The Beef Improvement Federation (BIF) presented Bruce and Tracey Mershon of Mershon Cattle LLC the BIF Commercial Producer of the Year Award on June 19 during the group’s annual meeting and symposium in Brookings, South Dakota.

The Beef Improvement Federation (BIF) presented Hinkson Angus Ranch, Cottonwood Falls, Kansas, the BIF Seedstock Producer of the Year Award on June 20 during the group’s annual meeting and symposium in Brookings, South Dakota.

Progressive Cattle would like to introduce RancHER, a new column spotlighting female leaders in the beef industry. This month, we are featuring Brenda Younkin, a natural resources specialist. She and her husband own and manage Y2 Consultants, a Wyoming-based small business specializing in engineering, natural resources management, GIS, landscape architecture, land surveying and land planning.

Lance Pekus is a rancher from Salmon, Idaho. He works on a 300-pair cow-calf operation with his father-in-law and, with the support of his wife and two children, competes yearly on the TV game show American Ninja Warrior, where he has become known as the “Cowboy Ninja.”

Case Beken, a 14-year-old boy from Weimer, Texas, grew up blind after battling a brain tumor as a toddler but never let his lack of sight hold him back, learning how to hunt and fish and enjoy life to the fullest.