By Sara Harris
The National Cattlemen’s Foundation (NCF) today announced its partnership with Cargill to provide funding to North American cattle producers to provide practical tools to help manage market shifts, reduce costs, manage finite natural resource availability and withstand extreme weather events.
The four-year strategic partnership, which was funded by a $3 million contribution from Cargill’s protein business, establishes a professional development scholarship program, and provides educational resources through the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (USRSB) and experiential learning in partnership with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA).
“Cargill is invested in the future of ranchers and farmers,” Jon Nash, Cargill Protein – North America business leader. “This contribution is just one of the ways we are investing what we’ve earned back in agricultural communities. We know we can’t deliver protein to tables without the people on the frontlines of our food system.”
The Rancher Resilience Grant program, which serves as the professional development scholarship arm of the program, offsets expenses for farmers and ranchers to attend state, regional, national, and global educational events. This includes industry conferences, seminars, and certifications that address animal health and wellbeing, profitability, natural resources, sustainability, genetics, and reproduction education.
“This partnership furthers NCF’s vision by advancing the future of the beef industry,” said NCBA CEO Colin Woodall. “There is no better way to achieve this than by meeting producers on the ground and supporting access to continuing education through free tools and resources.”
Cargill and the NCF will also work with the USRSB to support free virtual education platforms for the entire beef value chain. Additional resources will support the NCBA in promoting producer professional development opportunities.
“The USRSB educational modules provide real-world solutions that can be applied to any operation, no matter size or location,” said Wayne Morgan, USRSB chair. “We are excited to partner with Cargill and the NCF to develop tools designed to help stakeholders across the industry continuously improve how we raise, process and distribute beef.”
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