In today’s Beef Buzz, senior farm and ranch broadcaster Ron Hays speaks with Andy Holloway, longtime Texas Panhandle Extension educator, who is helping lead preparations for the upcoming Hemphill County Beef Conference—an event that continues to draw national and international attention.
A Growing Destination for Cattle Producers
With just weeks to go, Holloway says excitement is already building for the late-April event in Canadian, Texas.
“We’re about a month away, and people are buying tickets from all over the nation already,” Holloway said. “It’ll be April the 28th and 29th… and it’s really become a phenomenon.”
That growth is something Holloway attributes not just to the program, but to the community itself.
“People come there to our little slice of the prairie… which I call the diamond of the Texas Panhandle,” he said. “The Canadian River runs right through there, and it’s just stunningly beautiful. But the people there… have rolled out the red carpet.”
Regenerative Agriculture Takes Center Stage
This year’s conference theme focuses on regenerative agriculture and its role in modern beef production.
“Regenerative agriculture and how beef cattle fit into regenerative agriculture is our theme,” Holloway explained. “We’ve got an amazing group of speakers… from ranch pasture management issues… to even genetics on beef cattle and even marketing concepts.”
The goal, he says, is long-term sustainability across generations.
“We’ve got to have sustainability to sustain one generation to the next generation,” he said. “So we’re going to get into all that.”
High-Caliber Speakers and Industry Insight
The speaker lineup reflects a wide range of expertise across the beef industry.
“Troy Applehans from CattleFax… people come far and wide to hear the marketing reports,” Holloway said. “John Haskell… is brilliant as it regards helping people to squeeze more profit out of their ranching businesses.”
He also highlighted cutting-edge research in regenerative systems.
“One of the people that I’m most excited about is Dr. Jason Roundtree… his work is all about regenerative agriculture,” Holloway added.
Built on Passion and Community
Holloway believes the conference’s continued success comes down to people and purpose.
“It’s succeeded because of a lot of passion of people,” he said. “The Hemphill County Ag Committee has put wind in my sails… and we just work on it year round.”
That effort has helped the event grow far beyond a regional gathering.
“Frankly, it’s become an international,” Holloway said. “We had people from Australia, Canada, Ireland and South Africa… and 24 U.S. states were represented.”
More Than a Conference: Learning, Networking, and Food
Beyond the educational sessions, Holloway says the experience itself keeps people coming back.
“We not only learn from these great speakers, but… there will be 130 trade show exhibitors, so a lot of networking goes on,” he said. “People like to just see their neighbors… they don’t even have time to talk to their neighbors.”
And, as he puts it, the hospitality doesn’t hurt either.
“We eat barbecue for lunch the first day… prime rib for the evening meal… and we have steaks right off the grill for our lunch on the second day,” Holloway said. “So we eat good, we network, we have fun, we learn a lot.”
The Hemphill County Beef Conference is set for April 28–29 in Canadian, Texas, offering cattle producers a chance to connect, learn, and explore the future of beef production through a regenerative lens.
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network and is a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR above for today’s show and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
