Susie Ross, host

Susie Ross grew up on a small farm four miles outside of Wessington Springs, South Dakota.  Her father owned 240 acres and farmed a total of 510 acres, including corn, wheat and alfalfa. Livestock was cattle and hogs. 

Like most farm kids, Susie learned to drive in a stick shift pick-up truck. She was driving tractors in the fields before her teen years and, as with most other farm kids, was allowed to drive in town before she was allowed to get a permit because everyone knew that the “farm kids” had to drive to help their dads run their farms. 

Susie currently lives in Lone Tree, Colorado.  Living near a major airport is necessary for Susie’s other full-time job, which is a trainer/consultant for the restaurant industry.  She started her own business, Waiter Training, in 2000.  Her specialty and focus is front-of-house staff and creating confidence, personal accountability and superior customer service capabilities in food and beverage, all of which creates successful wait staff.

Susie started her education in theatre at Doane College in Crete, Nebraska.  From there she transferred to the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, SD, and then onto Metropolitan State College of Denver, where she received her BA in Speech Communications.

Todd McCartney, field reporter

With over 20 years in agriculture, Todd McCartney has seen ranching from both sides of the fence… and throughout the country.  On the production side, he’s spent nearly half of those years horseback - cowboying for historic ranches such as Haythorn Land and Cattle Co. in Nebraska and R.A. Brown Ranch in Texas.  Experience on the professional side of ranching followed with Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Assn. where Todd served 13,000 members as Director of Producer Education.  In addition, years spent as an equine nutrition consultant and a Pro Rodeo athlete have rounded out his experiences.

Recognizing the need for Ag stewardship promotion, Todd formed The Joe Steward Group in 2006.  This company, by means of educational events, special projects and promotional services “promotes stewardship of land, livestock and those who manage them.”    

Raising their four little “cowkids”, Todd and wife Marianne stay very busy with their own cattle operation in Millsap, Texas, as well as a partner in the family’s ranching operations in Throckmorton, Texas. 

Kevin Ochsner, field reporter

Kevin was born and raised on an irrigated farm and registered cattle operation in Fort Collins, Colorado.  He attended Colorado State University and graduated with a Bachelors degree in Agribusiness.  During his undergraduate studies, Kevin was a member of the CSU livestock judging team earning high individual honors at the National Intercollegiate Livestock Judging contest and was actively involved in FFA, serving as a National FFA Officer in 1987-88.   In 1997, Kevin earned his Masters in Management from the Krannert School of Business at Purdue University. 

Today, Kevin, his wife Julie and their three children, Caitlyn, Ashlyn and Collin make their home in the small agricultural community of Kersey, Colorado, 60 miles northeast of Denver.   Their operation consists of 130 head of registered Limousin and Lim-Flex cows together with irrigated corn, alfalfa and grass hay along the South Platte River.  In addition to marketing bulls to commercial cow/calf operations, they also own and operate Ochsner Tenderlean Beef, a small branded beef company that markets beef directly to consumers along the Front Range of Colorado.  Kevin also works as a business consultant and professional speaker for ABG, Inc. an Indianapolis-based agribusiness consulting/training firm.  In this capacity, he provides strategic planning, marketing consulting, and sales training services to some of the countries largest animal health, crop protection, seed, feed and farm machinery companies.

Jim Whitt, field reporter

A native Oklahoman, Jim grew up working on ranches, farms and feedlots.

After graduating with a degree in animal science from Oklahoma State University, he joined the Ralston Purina Company and spent several years in sales working with large commercial feeding operations in the High Plains. He then became the national director of cattle product marketing for Master Mix Feeds.

Today, Jim is a writer, consultant and speaker based in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  He and his wife are the founding partners of Purpose Unlimited, a personal and organizational development firm.

Jim is the author of three books including Riding for the Brand: The Power of Purposeful Leadership. As a contributing editor for CALF NEWS, Jim writes on the topic of business management and leadership for cattle producers. As a consultant, Jim has worked with some of the leading beef industry trade associations helping them adapt and succeed in the rapidly changing world of agriculture. As a speaker at beef industry conferences, Jim challenges producers to abandon their comfort zones and reach their full potential by exploring the endless frontier of future possibilities.

Contacts

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