Years ago, my kids, out of a sudden case of curiosity, peeked into my old high school yearbooks. To my surprise and their amusement, they began mocking what was long ago a sophisticated look and style.

Some will call it curious timing. Others will say the stars lined up out of kismet and good fortune. But just days before Brazil would light the Olympic flame for the first time on South American soil, the USDA extended its own peace offering to the world’s fifth-largest nation.

Perhaps you’ve had the difficult discussion, as a parent or child, when you decide what direction to take in life. What education and training is needed? What career will lead to being happy and successful?

If you like to comb through numbers and data, this year’s 2016 Beef Statistics poster, found inserted in the center of this issue, is a trove of goods. Here are just a few that are worth your close attention:

Some people feel the anxiety of aging around the holidays or maybe with their birthday. For me, the stark reminders that I’m growing long in the tooth come in June, when my kids finish another year of school.

Given how little the American public wanders into an honest discussion about its food policy, when a news story does broach the topic, you have to pay attention.

Having listened to the opposing sides waging a fierce debate over genetically modified organism (GMO) food labels in the U.S., it’s painfully obvious who’s winning the battle. And it isn’t the family farm or ranch.

It is a pattern as predictable as it is hollow. In every U.S. presidential election year, the guys in polished suits scrambling to get like-minded voters to the polls throw out a tired old claim that this is the most crucial election our country has ever faced. 

With the new year came news that the USDA and Department of Health and Human Services approved new 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines and an endorsement for red meat as a healthy protein.

If you went into the cattle business because you relish the chance to work alongside family, in the outdoors and with horses and livestock – you are not alone. Those values remain at the heart of the cattle industry.