Amarie Bartel of Yukon, Oklahoma, was awarded the Beef Promotor of the Year national award by the American CattleWomen at their annual meeting in Orlando, Florida. Bartel is the current president-elect of the Oklahoma CattleWomen and serves as the Economic Development Coordinator for the Oklahoma Farm Bureau.
Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster Ron Hays caught up with Bartel after receiving her award to talk about her journey thus far in advocating for and promoting the beef industry.
Between her family’s involvement in the livestock marketing business and growing up on a cow-calf operation in Cushing, Oklahoma, Bartel said her passion for the beef industry was built on a strong foundation.
“We say that we are in the cattle business, but we are also in the people business,” Bartel said.
When the opportunity to be part of the Oklahoma CattleWomen presented itself, Bartel said the pillars of beef education, legislation, and promotion were conversations she felt called to be a part of.
“Through the organization, I have had the opportunity to serve in many leadership roles, but I have also had the opportunity to learn from many influential women who have taught me more about how to take my voice and use it for the benefit of Oklahoma and our country’s producers,” Bartel said. “We have done that through a variety of things, even down to revitalizing our state’s Beef Certificate Program, which catalyzes the purchase of beef in the form of a beef certificate from local establishments.”
Looking back on her time at Oklahoma State University, Bartel reflected on the time she spent as the Student Government Association Director of Food Insecurity. One statistic Bartel mentioned is that 43 percent of OSU students do not know where their next meal is coming from.
“We had a student-led food pantry,” Bartel said. “I realized that it is important to return to my agricultural roots and make sure we were promoting animal protein as the premier protein source, specifically beef.”
With the help of the Oklahoma Collegiate CattleWomen, Bartel said an authorization request was submitted to the Oklahoma Beef Council, which allowed the group to give 2,000 beef sticks to students across the university.
“It was a full-circle moment to me to know that we were providing a healthy, safe, sustainable protein source to Oklahoma State University students,” Bartel said.
Bartel said she is looking forward to staying involved in legislative conversations in a beef industry that is rapidly changing. Through her involvement with the Oklahoma CattleWomen and the Oklahoma Farm Bureau, Bartel talked about the great mentorship she has received and continues to receive to help her grow along the way.
“I am going to try to be a sponge and absorb the things that are happening legislatively and then use that to catalyze that information to our country’s producers and consumers,” Bartel said.
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