Betty Jo Gigot, Editor and Publisher

By the time you read this we will be nearing the end of the year. I don’t know where the time goes, but here at CALF News we run on a very definite cycle, six times a year.

We know we are at the beginning of that cycle when Patti in Nebraska goes from tending the cows and sheep to checking with everyone, including her uncle Claude, to see if they are interested in advertising in the next issue. I am up next, writing the story board and contacting Jim in Oklahoma, Steve in Colorado, Will in Alberta, Canada, Tracy in North Carolina and Nevil in Kentucky about when their columns are due. We will already have Kurt’s cartoon from Kansas and Baxter’s column from Arizona. Jo in Colorado, LaRayne in Nebraska and Connie in South Dakota will already have presented their ideas for feature stories. Jim in Texas will have provided the subject for the next “In Search of Excellence.”

After crossing my desk, all of that goes to Larisa in Illinois for editing and then to Kathie in North Carolina for layout and design. She submits the publication electronically to Elizabeth and their crew in Michigan for printing and mailing, and to Stephanie in Colorado to put selected parts on the CALF News Web site. Then Lisa in Colorado sends out the bills to the advertisers and Martha in Kansas deposits the checks. And you, the readers, read our articles and interact with our advertisers and we get ready to gear up for another issue. You know what? We all have a great time doing it. Thank you for your continued support. Happy holidays. Happy the Bus Driver and I will be down on the Gulf, enjoying the sun.

Our company, B.J. Publishing, has been working on a new project. Dr. Jack Reeve, well known to many of you, has authored a book, Looking Back … A Cattleman on the High Plains, and we had the pleasure of publishing it. The autobiography will debut at the Kansas Livestock Association convention the first week in December and Dr. Jack will be there to sign copies. Place your order by visiting the Web site www.reevecattlecompany.com. It is a delightful history lesson from a first-person perspective.

This issue is all about beef, beef, beef and we need to remember that as we go about our daily tasks. From the beef checkoff, a fabulous way to promote our product – story and pictures by Connie Smith, our newest writer – to the Culinary Center in Chicago where the Beef Board and NCBA develop new products for our customers, to the new The Healthy Beef Cookbook, sponsored by the CBB and state beef councils, we have dedicated this issue to the product that brings in the dollars.

Also in this issue you will meet Charlie McVean who spends his days contemplating the worldview. I know you will enjoy “The Search for Excellence,” and if you are interested in finding out more about his drive to improve public education, be sure to visit www.easthighfoundation.org and read “The Privatization of Populism.” It will certainly make you think.

In an update on the last issue, both ethanol projects in Hereford, Texas are on track, according to Mayor Josserand. The air permits have been issued and plans are moving ahead for both plants.

Finally, congratulations are in order for CALF staff Jo Dexter and her husband, Dale, on the birth of their son, John Austin. Welcome to the CALF News family, John.