Junior, Kansas State University Marketing & Communications Intern with Accelerated Genetics Based in Baraboo, Wisconsin Background Q. In what area are you pursuing a degree? I have a double major in agricultural communications & journalism and animal sciences & industry, with a minor in leadership studies. Q. What is your agricultural background? I grew up on a diversified grain and livestock farm in northwest Indiana. In addition to a commercial hog operation, my younger brother and I showed beef cattle across the country. We then began our own business - RJ Show Cattle, and market a few select club calves each year. Q. What previous internship positions have you held? In 2009, I interned for the K-State Youth Livestock Programs in Manhattan, Kansas. Here I helped plan and execute various youth livestock events, including an overnight camp for high school students, the K-State Animal Sciences Leadership Academy.

COLLEGE STATION — Faced with lack of grazing, dwindling hay supplies and shrinking surface water sources, livestock producers continue to cull deeper into herds, according to Texas AgriLife Extension Service reports. “They’re culling a lot deeper than they normally would, and they’re culling a lot harder than they normally would,” said Rick Hirsch, AgriLife Extension agent for Henderson, west of Tyler. “And they’re culling into the heart of their herds.” By “heart of their herds,” Hirsch meant heifers and three- to six-year-old cows that should form the core of future production.

Other than johnsongrass, I can’t think of any forage that has an equal number of pros and cons listed in its bio. In addition, producers are equally dispersed when discussing the ‘love-hate’ attributes of this grass.

A native New Yorker, Ron St. John came to North Central Florida in 1986, and has blazed a trail of innovation and expansion in dairy farming ever since. St. John lives in Trenton, Florida. He owns five dairy farms, including two in Georgia, and has a new one under construction in Florida. As a result of his dairy farming success, St. John has been selected as the 2011 Florida winner of the Swisher Sweets/Sunbelt Expo Southeastern Farmer of the Year award. St. John now joins eight other state winners from the Southeast as finalists for the award. The overall winner will be announced on Tuesday, Oct. 18 at the Sunbelt Ag Expo farm show in Moultrie, Georgia.