Vol 2, No 36

Excitement continues to build for the 2021 Annual AGM & Conference in Fort Collins, CO. Education, networking, and entertainment will once again be the central theme for registered attendees. As I’ve often said there has never been a better time to be a part of the American Wagyu Association, arguably the fastest growing beef breed association in America. More than 50% of our current membership has joined the association in the last three years! This is phenomenal growth and speaks to the excitement that’s being generated about this breed in the United States.

Conference registrations are coming in and we are going to have a great turnout! To give everyone a chance to register for the conference we are going to extend the late registration deadline and fee ($400) to Sept. 17th. So, if you have not registered yet, there is still time. We do need you to know that registrations received after Sept 6th will not have a pre-printed name tag.

Although deadlines have passed for many of the sponsorship opportunities we can still work with you if you would like to have a trade show booth or discuss other options.

This week we are featuring three speakers for the AGM & Conference, Dr. Keith Belk, Professor and Head, Department of Animal Science at Colorado State University. Dr. Brad Morgan, Professor of Animal Science at Colorado State University. And Dr. Gary Smith, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of the Department of Animal Science at Colorado State University.

We look forward to seeing you in Fort Collins, CO., September 23-25, 2021.

Keith Belk serves as Professor and Head, Department of Animal Science as well as an Adjunct Professor in the Colorado School of Public Health. Previously, he served as a Professor and Holder of the Ken & Myra Monfort Endowed Chair in Meat Science with the Center for Meat Safety & Quality, Department of Animal Sciences, Colorado State University. He also served as Director of the Center for Meat Safety & Quality at CSU. He earned B.S. and M.S. degrees from CSU, and a Ph.D. from Texas A&M University. He has been employed in the private sector as a buyer by Safeway, Inc., and by the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service in Washington, DC, as an International Marketing Specialist.

At Colorado State University since 1995, he has authored or co-authored 252 refereed scientific journal articles, provided over 530 invited presentations, generated >$22M in extramural research funding, and was the primary inventor on two patents. He served as the state Meat Extension Specialist between 1995 and 2000, on the Editorial Board for the Journal of Animal Science in 1997-2000, on the Board of Directors for the American Meat Science Association (AMSA) between 2003-2005, and as President of AMSA in 2009-2010.

J. Brad Morgan was raised on a ranch and oil community of Antlers, Oklahoma. He received his B.S. in Animal Science from Oklahoma State University (1985), his M.S. in Meat Science from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (1988) and his Ph.D. in Animal Science from Texas A&M University (1991). Brad was an Assistant Professor and Extension Meats Specialist at Colorado State University from 1991 to 1995 where he was part of the inaugural National Beef Quality Audit and other high impact research projects. In 1995, Dr. Morgan joined the Animal Science faculty at Oklahoma State University. He taught undergraduate and graduate meat science courses and conducts research on the quality, quantity, safety, and usefulness of meat and meat products. Morgan’s research and expertise in meat tenderness and color is known nationally and internationally. He has conducted research for companies such as Wal-Mart, National Beef, Harris Ranch Beef, Tyson Red Meats, Outback Steakhouse, Standard Meat Company, Sam Kane’s Pacing, Performance Food Group, Sysco, PM Beef and the U.S. Meat Export Federation.

One of Morgan’s last research interests focused on development, verification and implementation of the OSU Beef Tenderness Prediction System along with developing the dry aging protocols for beef cuts destined for international markets. Morgan attracted over $12.5 million in extramural funding, published over 90 journal articles, given over 1,500 invited presentations, and conducted research in 29 countries. Morgan has received numerous research and teaching awards including the Outstanding Teaching Award from the American Meat Science Association along with the Outstanding Scientist in the Division of Agriculture at Oklahoma State University. Additionally, Morgan served as the president of the American Meat Science Association. For five years, Morgan was the Sr. Director of Protein for the Performance Food Group (PFG). At PFG, they delivered more than 125,000 food and food-related products to 85,000 customer locations daily. Most recently Morgan rejoined the faculty in the Animal Science at Colorado State University.

Gary Smith is a distinguished professor emeritus of the Department of Animal Science at Colorado State University (CSU), where he occupied the Monfort Endowed Chair in Meat Science from 1990 until his retirement in 2010. Smith is an accomplished researcher, a gifted teacher and legendary mentor to students, professors and technical specialists throughout the meat industry. An internationally established meat scientist, he is considered one of the world’s top meat safety experts.

Prior to his service at CSU, Smith served as professor (1969-1982) and head (1982-1990) of the Department of Animal Science at Texas A&M University and remains an adjunct member of the graduate faculty. Smith’s work in the composition, quality, safety, packaging and retailing of red meat earned him scores of awards. They include the Distinguished Research Award and the Distinguished Teaching Award from both the American Society of Animal Science and the American Meat Science Association.

He has authored more than 1,000 articles in scientific journals, conference proceedings, technical reports and industry magazines. He was chairman of the National Academy of Sciences committee that wrote “Irradiation of Meat and Meat Products,” and a member of the committee that wrote “Designing Foods.” He was inducted into the Meat Industry Hall of Fame in 2009.

Registration for our 2021 AGM and Conference
is now OPEN!

This year the conference is in Fort Collins, Colorado and we have been working very closely with the Colorado State University Department of Animal Science to put on a very informative and fun conference.

Please click on the above link to view the sponsorship opportunities, the preliminary schedule, presenters and also the link to the registration form.

We hope you will consider becoming a sponsor for this year’s conference. We have many different types of sponsorships to suite your business needs.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the office.

Helpful Links

Stockmanship & Stewardship
Beef Quality Assurance
Beef Improvement Federation
Masters of Beef Advocacy
National Education Center for Agricultural Safety
Beef Cattle Community
eBEEF

Advertise with the AWA
The American Wagyu Association offers many ways members can advertise their genetics and products through AWA services. These include Face Book, Premium Advertising Page, eBlasts, Classifieds, the Annual Breeders Guide and other opportunities. Contact the AWA office for more information or visit wagyu.org/members/advertising-services

Download our advertising fee schedule

Robert Williams, Ph.D.
Executive Director

Contact us at office@wagyu.org for any advertising inquires.
Visit us at wagyu.org for more information about the Wagyu breed.