It’s day two of CattleCon 2026. It’s been an exciting day of educational sessions, time on the trade show floor learning about new products, live AgriTalk broadcasts and taping of U.S. Farm Report.
To help us provide a producer’s perspective, we’ve invited five CattleCon attendees to be our boots on the ground and help us capture highlights from their experiences in Nashville, including:
- A first-time CattleCon attendee, Jenna Fitzsimmons, from Cunningham, Kan.
- Rachel Gray of Little Timber Farms, Blackduck, Minn., who specializes in developing heifers, is attending her fifth convention.
- Ken Odde, South Dakota commercial cow-calf producer from Pollock, who has attended more than 30 NCBA Conventions and Trade Shows.
- Commercial cow-calf producer Logan Pribbeno of Wine Glass Ranch, Imperial, Neb., will be attending his third CattleCon this year and is bringing his entire family to experience the event.
- Kim Rounds, Five Rivers manager of talent acquisition and social media, is looking forward to her seventh CattleCon.
Tuesday morning two of our producers — Pribbeno and Gray — joined Chip Flory on “AgriTalk” for the Farmer Forum.
Congratulations to Pribbeno and his family on being named the 2025 Environmental Stewardship Award Program (ESAP) national winner on Tuesday evening.
Here’s what the producers have to say about their CattleCon experience thus far:
What have you attended since you arrived in Nashville?
Fitzsimmons: I attended the NCBA policy meetings on Monday and Tuesday, specifically “Live Cattle Marketing” and “Cattle Health & Well-Being”. I also attended the opening general session and the trade show. I highly enjoyed being part of the policy discussion. The specialist speakers within the policy meetings offered great insight. The grassroots discussions throughout this week are so important to the future of the industry. The opening general session with Dale Earnhardt Jr. was very inspiring. I appreciated how he advised those who are at a beginning stage to enjoy it, because you won’t have that time again, and it has its own uniqueness. I loved seeing exhibitors in the trade show of businesses of all kinds and sizes. I cannot wait to learn more about what they all have to offer.
Gray: I attended the opening general session featuring Earnhardt. I’ve also been going to some cattle chats and the learning lounge sessions.
Odde: Probably the session I spent the most time at Tuesday was international trade, and it was a very good session. I learned a number of things. I also thought the BQA producer forum was really good. The BQA program has now gotten much stronger legs than what it actually had earlier in my career. I could really see that at the session, especially taking on the transportation issues, you know, taking this issue far beyond how we use animal health products.
Pribbeno: We went to the Dale Earnhardt Jr. session and turnout was great. I’ve been busy with ESAP discussions following last night’s award ceremony. I am speaking on a panel later this afternoon, and I’m going to the AI (artificial intelligence) Cattleman’s College session. I do think it’s going to be kind of a game changer. So, I’m looking forward to going to that and seeing how to more fully use AI.
Rounds: I spent most of the morning today preparing for my Cattlemen’s College presentation “Work that Works,” where I discussed finding jobs and keeping employees. So, I haven’t actually had a chance to attend too many informational meetings. The majority of my time here has been catching up with my connections I only see here and really seeing what the advocacy side of the industry looks like right now.
Big takeaways so far?
Fitzsimmons: The specialist speakers within the policy meetings offered great insight. I was very impressed with how they were beyond excited for producers to be involved with their processes. These specialists want to make sure what they are doing is working correctly for the producers they serve.
Veterinarian Dr. Sierra Guynn, from Clemson University, presented on the Asian Longhorn Tick (ALHT) in the “Cattle Health & Well-Being” policy meeting. Something I found very interesting was that, unlike most all ticks, the AHLT is resilient in the way that they will go back to feed on a host even if they were knocked off already. Guynn offered several ways of practical tick prevention and control that producers should already be doing through cattle and environment. Within our beef operation, we already are completing those steps through the cattle side. After Guynn’s presentation, I am inspired and challenged to add the environmental prevention and control to our operation plan. I am looking forward to attending her Cattlemen’s College session on New World screwworm on Thursday.
Gray: My key takeaway from Earnhardt’s comments was when he was talking about taking risks and using innovation. It’s okay to be a little bit of a risk taker. The educational sessions on trace minerals were good. It makes me wonder if we are paying enough attention to that in our rations. I will go home and check that.
Odde: No. 1 is the situation we’re in with regard to trade, and particularly the loss of the China market. I think we all kind of know that happened but didn’t really maybe understand the magnitude of that effect. That’s really a big deal for our industry. Our industry will be working hard over the next several years to see if we can recapture that China market.
No. 2 is the importance of the change in dietary guidelines. I’m old enough to remember the war on fat in the ‘80s. And what we started learning, especially in the ‘90s, is that it’s really not fat. It’s really sugar. Sugar is the big, bad, evil item associated with diet. I think this change in the pyramid is a really big deal. It’s not just a big deal for Americans — it’s a big deal globally.
Pribbeno: Earnhardt did a really good job talking about his career and when he knew to hang it up and focus on family. I really appreciated that as a high-performing athlete, and he just at a certain age decided to completely shift his focus, and now he’s really into the people development — his team and the cars that he runs. He’s not about getting the victories anymore. He’s about getting people into their prime positions and outside of his company and developing people. He did a really nice job.
Rounds: I’m always curious to see what the messages are being shared by the advocates of our industry, and that’s kind of where I’ve been focused so far today.
