Beef Cattle Presentation & Roundtable Discussions

Overview

Calling all Beef Cattle Producers! You are invited to attend the all new Beef Cattle Presentation & Roundtable Discussions event at the Amarillo Farm & Ranch Show.

This new program will provide insight, inspiration and industry perspective for beef producers. The event agenda will include a series of roundtable discussions led by a panel of respected industry leaders, focusing on current topics in the beef industry. Attendees will gain practical takeaways and have opportunities to visit directly with experts and fellow producers.

The evening will conclude with dinner and a message from keynote speaker Dr. Temple Grandin. The Choice Ribeye Steak Dinner will benefit the District 1 Texas Panhandle 4-H Friends & Alumni Association. 

Agenda

Check back for a more detailed agenda including topics and speakers as we get closer to the event.

Ticket Purchase Information

Registration is required for the Beef Cattle Presentation & Roundtable Discussions Event. Producers are encouraged to secure their tickets early!

$100 per seat

$1,000 to reserve a full table (8 seats)

$2,500 for an event sponsorship 

• Sponsorship includes table of 8 for dinner and sponsorship recognition in the event program and educational material.

Thank you to the Sponsors of this Event:

Anipro

Cattle Marketing Services

Citizens Bank

Barrett and Crofoot Feedyard

Hudson Crop Insurance

StoneX

Lone Star Stockyards

Riomax

Plains Land Bank

Caviness Beef Packers

Cactus Feeders

For questions and more information, you may contact Megan Eikner with the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service - Potter County at (806) 373-0713.

Speakers:

Temple Grandin is a Distinguished Professor of Animal Science at Colorado State University. Facilities she has designed for handling livestock are used by many companies around the world. She has also been instrumental in implementing animal welfare auditing programs that are used by McDonalds, Wendy’s, Whole Foods, and other corporations. Temple has appeared on numerous TV shows such as 20/20 and Prime Time. Her books include: Thinking in Pictures, Livestock Handling and Transport and The Autistic Brain. Her books Animals in Translation and Visual Thinking have been on the New York Times Bestseller List. Temple was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in September 2017, in 2022 was named a Colorado State University Distinguished Professor, and in 2023 was inducted into the Colorado Authors’ Hall of Fame.

Ian Wheal is the founder and CEO of Breedr, a precision livestock platform improving global beef supply chains across the USA, UK, and Australia. 

Raised on a family farm, Ian combines deep agricultural roots with technology innovation to help producers optimize performance, enhance traceability, and increase profitability across every stage of beef production.

Kirk Donsbach was born and raised in production agriculture. He graduated From Rocky Mountain College in 1998 and worked as a Project Manager and Electrical Designer retrofitting Digital Control Systems into aging Power Plants. His desire was always to return to the family operation in Montana and raise a family in a rural setting. Seeing the need to protect the family’s main income source, he started hedging their production while still working as an Electrical Designer. 

In 2003, Mr. Donsbach returned to the family operation and developed a hedging strategy. In an effort to assist his fellow producers in risk management, Mr. Donsbach became a Daniels Trading Broker in 2015, which eventually became StoneX.  Mr. Donsbach has continued his Risk Management duties with StoneX for the past 10 years while managing his central Montana cow/calf operation.

Leoma Donsbach is the founder of Data Genie LLC, where she partners with producers and breed associations to unlock the value of genetics, data, and genomic technology. With experience at the American Simmental Association and NEOGEN, she has become a trusted voice in advancing precision mating, genomic adoption, and data-driven decision-making across the beef industry. Leoma and her husband, Kirk, ranch in Roy, Montana.

Kimberly Ratcliff graduated from Long Island University in 2000, where ranching wasn’t in her purview. Kimberly was on a corporate career path, living in New York City and working for Bloomberg LP as a branding and public relations specialist. After seven years later, her family’s ranch was on her mind and she decided it was time for a change.

Kimberly moved back to a small town in East Texas to apply the business knowledge and skillset she had learned to Caney Creek Ranch, the ranch her family has been running since her father, Wesley, purchased in 2002. Since then, the ranch has grown to over 2,500 acres, and the family business has evolved into Ratcliff Premium Meats, a fast-growing supplier of premium beef. Kimberly has come a long way from the Big Apple to living her dream and finding her purpose: supporting her community, advocating for agriculture producers, and representing Black ranchers.

Jason Smith, Ph.D. is an associate professor and Extension beef cattle specialist at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Amarillo. He is a native of northern Virginia, where he developed a passion for beef cattle at an early age.

Although he feels that his formal training in beef cattle nutrition and production management were pivotal, Smith feels that his first-hand experiences learned the hard way through developing and maintaining a small commercial cowherd with his family continue to play a pivotal role in his education.  As an Extension Beef Cattle Specialist for the Department of Animal Science and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, located in Amarillo, his efforts are focused toward developing and supporting educational programs that benefit beef cattle producers and other industry stakeholders.  Jason also works to conduct applied and demonstrational research in beef cattle nutrition in order to link fundamental discovery to application in the field, and answer production-relevant questions that would otherwise remain unanswered.

Smith’s professional memberships include the American Society of Animal Science, the Southern Section Extension Committee for the American Society of Animal Science, the Plains Nutrition Council, and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.

Ben Weinheimer is president & CEO of the Texas Cattle Feeders Association (TCFA), headquartered in Amarillo, Texas. He was named to that position in 2022, and has been on staff since 1995, serving previously as vice president from 2006-2021 and as regulatory manager from 1995-2005. As president & CEO, Weinheimer is responsible for day-to-day operations of the Association, including supervising implementation of policy at the state and federal legislative and regulatory levels, as well as the association’s programs and services offered to members in Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico.

Weinheimer is active in several industry-related and civic organizations and currently serves as Chairman of the Panhandle Regional Water Planning Group, member of the Llano Estacado Regional Water Planning Group, past chairman of the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, past president of the Texas Agricultural Lifetime Leadership Alumni Association, past president of the Texas Section of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers, member of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, member of the Texas Association of Community Colleges Business Advisory Council, and adjunct professor in the department of large animal clinical sciences at Texas A&M University.

Weinheimer grew up on a diversified crop and livestock operation in the Texas Panhandle. He is a 1994 honors graduate of Texas A&M University with a degree in agricultural engineering and is a licensed professional engineer in Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma. Ben and wife, Jennifer, reside in Amarillo, Texas. They are proud parents of a daughter and two sons and grandparents of three terrific grandchildren.

Corbitt Wall is a native of eastern New Mexico and west Texas.  He is a fourth generation cattleman and has been a livestock auctioneer for 30 years.  Corbitt grew up at his father’s side, taking delivery of country cattle purchases off New Mexico ranches and wheat pastures. They were also some of the first to order stocker calves from the Southeast, partnering with shippers from Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida.

Corbitt received a Bachelor’s degree in Ag Business and Economics plus a Master’s degree in Agriculture from West Texas A&M University in Canyon, Texas.  Upon graduation, he started an 18 year career with the USDA’s Ag Marketing Service and carved a niche in feeder cattle market reporting as the author of the weekly National Feeder & Stocker Cattle Summary.  In 2014, Mr. Wall accepted a position with DV Auction as their Commercial Cattle Manager and Livestock Market Analyst.  He relocated back to the Texas Panhandle in 2017, after 16 years in northwest Missouri where he operated a small stocker cattle operation with his three daughters.  

Sidney Abbott is the Director of Research at OT Feedyard & Research Center, where she leads innovative beef cattle trials and data-driven performance studies. Recognized by Cowgirl Magazine as one of its Top 30 Under 30, she is passionate about advancing research that connects science, sustainability, and profitable cattle production.