Beef Brings North and South America Together

Each year international guests visit the U.S. to get an up-close look at GENEX bulls and their progeny. GENEX, part of Cooperative Resources International (CRI), hosted over 70 visitors from Argentina and Brazil on two separate tours this summer. During their visit, they learned more about the GENEX Beef lineup, as well as the entire beef industry from conception to harvest.

The Brazil tour group began in Shawano, Wisconsin, at our corporate headquarters. Over 30 guests invited by CRI Brazil, a CRI-owned company, spent a morning learning about our commitment to herd improvement through superior genetics. In addition, they spent time learning about the collection and processing of each semen straw and had the opportunity to view several bulls in-person – a highlight of the tour!

The group viewing 1AN01310 BREAKING NEWS.

From Shawano, Wisconsin, they continued their tour traveling throughout Minnesota, South Dakota and ending in Bismarck, North Dakota.

The Brazil tour group stopped in Kimball, Minnesota, to visit Schiefelbein Farms.

They also made a stop at Penrhos Farms, a GENEX progeny test herd in Britton, South Dakota, and Topp Herefords, Grace City, North Dakota.

Simultaneously, we hosted over 40 Argentine visitors from Juan Debernardi SRL, a CRI distributor. This group weaved through Kansas, Iowa, the Dakotas and Montana. A highlight of the tour was a day spent at Kansas State University (KSU) learning about the latest studies conducted by Dr. Bob Weaber and the KSU Animal Science Department. Participants also viewed the newly constructed KSU Purebred Beef Unit Headquarters. After 12 days on the road, the tour concluded at the GENEX Production Center in Billings, Montana, where the Argentines observed several bulls and learned about the semen collection process.

Observing the new Purebred Beef Unit Headquarters at KSU

While in Kansas, the Argentine visitors stopped at the Tiffany Cattle Company feedlot in Herington, Kansas, and Mushrush Red Angus in Strong City, Kansas.

Enjoying some steak at the historic Hays House in Council Grove, Kansas, on the recommendation of GENEX Beef Sire Procurement Manager Cody Sankey.

These tours allow international customers the chance to connect with staff and learn more about GENEX genetics.

After the tour, participants will have racked up over 3,000 miles, enjoyed a lot of excellent U.S. beef and gained a better understanding of the GENEX philosophy.  

Intern Insight with Sydney Brooks

Welcome to GENEX. This will not be your average internship.

Just like Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson's exciting and extraordinary experience in their time as interns with Google in the 2013 movie "The Internship", our GENEX Dairy Marketing Interns are embarking on an adventure unlike most internships.  I mean, how many internship job descriptions contain the words A.I. service, breeding program and semen? Unencumbered by the uniqueness of the position, nine college students took to rural America this summer to gain knowledge and skills necessary for their future careers. Throughout this time, we will be featuring some of them to give you a glimpse into their reality.

Meet Sydney Brooks, a junior who recently transferred to the University of Wisconsin-Madison from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. Sydney will be studying animal science and life science communication and hopes to get involved in Badger Dairy Club, Association of Women in Agriculture and Collegiate Farm Bureau. Sydney is originally from a dairy and grain farm in Waupaca, Wisconsin, and her internship has her placed in northeast Wisconsin.

Why did you choose an internship with GENEX?

I started looking for internships to gain experience and knowledge in the agtricultural field and luckily, I came across the U.S. Dairy Marketing internship with GENEX. Not only is it my intention to learn an abundance, my goal for the summer would hopefully be to take what I've learned and apply it to my final years of my undergrad and possibly bring that knowledge back to my home farm in the future.

What have you learned from your internship thus far?

Strangely enough, the people have had the biggest impact on my experiences thus far. Each day I work with a wide variety of farmers, veterinarians, nutritionists, herdsmen and milkers on farms. Furthermore, the team that I'm working with for the summer has been more than welcoming, willing to help in any way possible and always answering every question I may have. Working with them on a daily basis from farm to farm has been incredibly rewarding. I have been able to absorb their knowledge, gain experience breeding cows and build my communication skills.

We wish Sydney the best of luck as she continues her education in agriculture!

Top Five Truths About the Life of a GENEX Dairy Consultant

By: Abby Tauchen, U.S. Dairy Marketing Programs Specialist

From the CEO to the barn crew, each person is an important part of the GENEX team. With that in mind, have you ever wondered what your coworkers do? Have you thought about walking in another person’s shoes, or in this case, boots for the day? I got to do just that! I spent a day with a GENEX Dairy Consultant to get a feel of a typical day on the job. Jeff Lutz, Dairy Consultant in central Wisconsin, let me tag along on a dairy visit, giving me the opportunity to ask questions about his typical day as a consultant. Here are the top five truths, in a nutshell, about the life of a Dairy Consultant:

1. Dairy Visits: Consultants enjoy meeting with farm owners and employees to discuss genetics, reproduction and goals to build a better future. Tasks include analyzing on-farm data and monitoring GENEX product performance for optimal results.
   
2. Team Communication: Communicating with the GENEX team is a vital part of the job. Phone calls, emails and ride-alongs all happen, most of the time, multiple times a day. Team members provide extra insight and helpful tips so together they can achieve a dairy’s goals.
3. Pride: GENEX employees take pride in our proprietary index, ICC$! GENEX listened to what our members and customers wanted and created an index that was more functional on their commercial dairy operation.
4. Programs: GENEX provides essential advancedreproductive and genetic-focused programs to producers and partners in the industry. These programs make a Dairy Consultant's job easier and enable the team to reach a dairy's goals faster.
5. Training: Employee development is important to every career. GENEX offers an exceptional internal career development program for employees to complete. Conferences are also conducted across departments to focus and re-energize employees, allowing them to better serve members and customers. Jeff and I both recently attended a GENEX U.S. Strategic Marketing & Technical Services Conference in Arizona. The theme of our conference was Focus.

Above are the top five truths, but believe me there are plenty more truths to gather from a day in the life of a GENEX Dairy Consultant. Whatever industry you are a part of, take a chance and get to know your co-workers and their jobs! I know that by doing this, I am better able to appreciate the entire GENEX team as well as our members and customers.

Surviving the Spring Bull Sale Season

By: Brad Johnson, Director Beef Genetics and Cody Sankey, Beef Sire Procurement Manager

With spring bull sale season in the rearview mirror, we wanted to share our lessons learned.

      Don’t be proud. Be warm. Mud boots and Stormy Kromer caps may look dumb but are awesome. It’s a challenge to get Muck® boots, gloves, hats, Carhartt® bibs and more into a carry-on bag, but it’s totally worth the effort. Brad’s fingers still tingle occasionally from his February visit to Alberta. Good thing the bulls were good!

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Do your bull sale homework ahead of time. Have a short list of bulls before you arrive at the ranch. It’s going to be cold/snowy/muddy/rainy/sleeting/hailing/all of the above, so sorting through every single bull’s data while in the bull pen isn’t a good idea.

Never underestimate the value of a good rental car.  Just because you can get a Ford Fusion for $7 a day and it gets 30 mpg doesn’t mean it will be a good deal. After you’re stuck driving in a snowstorm that upgrade cost for the Ford Explorer looks pretty cheap.

One cannot own enough phone chargers. If you leave one at a hotel it’s as good as gone and so is your battery level. You can never survive a bull sale day without a full phone battery. Try raiding the lost and found at the next hotel you get to, there’s a good chance one of us left one there last time we visited. You’re welcome.

Speaking of hotels, Holiday Inn Express is our “go-to” chain. However, NEVER be afraid to try out the local establishments. Hotels like the Great Northern in Malta, Montana, Bob’s Resort in Gettysburg, South Dakota or the Hyannis Hotel in Hyannis, Nebraska are certain to have a warm bed, good shower and outstanding restaurant with great food!

Never pass up a great bull. At GENEX, we believe you can never have too many great bulls and when we find one, you can count on us to add him to the GENEX lineup. We strive to have the most powerful lineup of bulls in the business and are extremely excited with our 2017 acquisitions. Check them out on the website and Facebook.

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