​If you ask, they will come through. That, more than any, describes the value that the people in cattle feeding bring to their communities.
 
Wheeler County in the eastern Texas Panhandle isn’t the largest county in the state. Nor the most populous. In fact, with a population around 5,000, the county is home to more cattle
than people.
 
It is, however, likely the biggest county in the state to, per capita, boast the highest number of Eagle Scouts at 54 and counting. And that’s not all. “We’re building a brand-new baseball field,” Pat McDowell, rancher and county judge said. The feedyard in Wheeler County is the title sponsor.
 
Those things don’t just happen, McDowell said. They happen because the people who live in a place where cattle fuel the economy make it happen.
 
In communities throughout Cattle Feeding Country, they do that by showing up to help, to offer leadership. They do that by contributing money and resources to local causes. They don’t brag about it. They don’t do it for recognition. They do it because it’s the right thing to do to make their community better, stronger, more resilient.
 
Wheeler County is just one of many points of light that illuminate how important people are to creating a thriving, vibrant community. And in the rural areas of Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico, where cattle and cattle feeding fuel the economy, it’s the people who make it happen.
 
Just ask Cathy Bunch. She’s the mayor of Hereford, Texas, and the wife of a feedyard manager and owner. Her dad shod horses for feedyards. “I worked for a feedyard growing up as a teenager. So I’ve been around feedyards and know how important they are to our community.”
 
She recalls the first time she asked feedyards for a community contribution. It was to fund an air-filled arch for the high school football team to run through at home games. “And the response was, ‘Yes, whatever we need to do for the community.’” She’s never been turned down since when she makes a request to help. “The feedyards are who we go to if we need something for our community.”
 
Like Wheeler to the northeast on the other side of the Texas Panhandle, Hereford will build a new baseball complex. “And I feel comfortable going to the feedyards to ask them to contribute, because they are always willing to give back to the community.”
 
While that community pride helps everyone, it’s part of how a feedyard helps its employees. “Their employees live in this town and I feel like they want to provide and help support their employees outside of the job to make sure their families have quality of life in Hereford,” she said.
 
“That’s good for the feedyard because if the employees are happy and their families are happy and they’re content living in Hereford and have a quality of life here, the community is better off and the feedyard is better off.”
 
While financial contributions are important, it doesn’t stop there, Bunch said. “They (feedyards) really like to donate hamburger meat. If an organization, 4-H or the Booster Club or something like that cooks hamburgers, we can go to the feedyards and they’re willing to support.”
 
Kevin Carter, CEO of the Amarillo Economic Development Corporation, sees it as two sides of the same coin. “I’ve lived in a small town and I know how dependent on agriculture that these small towns are from the economic standpoint, but also as a major employer in those towns.”
 
McDowell agrees. The feedyard in his county supports 24 families. Those families go to church, their kids go to school, the parents are involved in their children’s activities and likely are involved in other community groups as well. “The manager told me that his people may leave for the oilfield, but they always come back because they know he’ll always be there.”
 
Feedyards don’t operate in a vacuum and community involvement doesn’t begin and end with feedyards alone. “Another very important business to Hereford is Caviness Beef Packers, whether it’s meat for hot dogs at a parade or any other need,” Bunch said.
 
Then there are the companies and businesses that provide the goods and services feedyards need. They’re an essential part of the cattle feeding world and an important part of the people equation that strengthens the fabric of small towns.

​That “cooperation combination” came together in a very special way about six years ago when the cattle feeding world rose to fulfill a critically important need—food insecurity.
 
“Kids can’t learn if they’re hungry,” according to Dyron Howell, founder of Snack Pak 4 Kids. “The cattle feeding community has stepped up to make sure communities have the beef protein that kids need every weekend. The people have been instrumental in making that happen.”
 
While school children facing food insecurity get meals at school during the week, weekends can be a hungry, scary time. Snack Pak 4 Kids works with the schools in communities in the Texas Panhandle and South Texas to provide food bags on Fridays for kids to take home.
 
Those food bags now contain beef sticks, thanks to the people
in the cattle feeding world.
 
It came about with a meeting between Howell and TCFA staff to discuss the protein needs for food-insecure kids. “Then feedyard members got involved and asked, ‘What can we do?’ Then other companies that support the cattle feeding industry got involved and also asked, ‘What can we do?’”
 
That simple question, “What can we do?” has resulted in more than $600,000 raised from an annual cattle feeders’ golf tournament, all of which goes to buy beef sticks that are included in the Snack Pak that kids in need get every week.
 
“Every year we have 28 teams play in the golf tournament. It’s just been a snowball that has been rolling downhill once people were aware our kids needed what they needed,” Howell said.
 
In Howell’s mind the program is more than food. “It’s not a bag full of food. What we’re giving kids is a bag full of tools that lets them open their minds and opens up opportunity that we all have been blessed with,” he said.
 
While it’s true that kids can’t learn when they’re hungry, Howell offers this perspective: “Kids can change the world when they’re full. And making this investment gives them the tools they need to be successful. And then, you unlock all this potential for these kids.”
 
Unlocking the potential in kids—all kids—is what Mike Ray is about. He’s a cattleman from Guymon, Oklahoma, and part owner in a feedyard. He epitomizes the ethic and mantra of the people who make the cattle business strong.
 
“I believe if you live in a community, you’ve got to work to make it better. And that’s volunteer work, whether it’s the school board or being involved in civic clubs or whatever.” He served on the Guymon School Board for 15 years, then rose through the system to become president of the Oklahoma State School Boards Association.
 
While the Oklahoma Panhandle is home to a strong cattle feeding community, Guymon is a packing plant town, he said. And that creates interesting and sometimes controversial dynamics. “I’ve worked with schools all over Oklahoma, and we’re probably the most diverse school system in the state.”
 
In fact, 38 different languages are spoken in Guymon schools. While that’s a challenge, it’s also an opportunity in his mind. His kids and kids from feedyard families in the area were part of that dynamic. “My kids got to see what the real world was before they ever got out of high school, the diversity and the different cultures,” he said. “I think it gave them insight into how to function in society that sometimes you don’t get if you don’t have multiple cultures.”
 
He passionately believes that a school’s responsibility is to educate every kid it gets, regardless of where they’re from. And when that occurs, good things happen in a community.
 
“The kids of feedyard employees, packinghouse employees, they get established in the community and they become the community leaders,” he said. “It’s amazing how many of those kids have gone to Guymon schools, gone to Oklahoma Panhandle State University, and have started businesses or are involved in a business. They’re the next generation of leaders. And that’s what you need.”

​The Amarillo area beef community presented a check for $100,500 to the Snack Pak 4 Kids (SP4K) Beef Fund. One hundred percent of the money raised will provide food-insecure students with high-quality beef protein through the Snack Pak 4 Kids weekend backpack program. The check was presented at the fifth annual Beef 4 Kids golf tournament. 
 
"In the past five years, more than $500,000 has been raised through the B4K golf tournament, to ensure kids in 50 area communities have access to protein every weekend. It is a blessing that our agriculture partners have come together to make this possible," said Dyron Howell, Founder and Executive Director of Snack Pak 4 Kids.
 
The SP4K Beef Fund launched in October 2017. The program was designed to provide more protein over the weekend for hungry students in the Texas Panhandle. This year’s tournament pushed the fund to over half a million dollars in donations to the Beef Fund in just five years.  
 
Each year, local teachers answer survey questions from SP4K to ensure the program is adequately serving students in the area.  “The students who get the bags are better mentally, physically and spiritually for having food over the weekends. They are alert, thinking and participating all the time during class and lab,” said a local teacher. 
 
Protein is an important addition to every Snack Pak bag and beef provides ten essential nutrients and vitamins, including protein, zinc and iron – three key nutrients that are essential for proper growth and development of children. 
 
“Texas Cattle Feeders Association is thankful for the strong partnership with Snack Pak 4 Kids and the opportunity to work with the community to provide high-quality beef protein to students in the area,” said Lindsey Sawin, TCFA Communications Coordinator. “Cattle feeders are dedicated stewards of their communities, and we are honored to be able to give back at the Beef 4 Kids Golf Tournament.”
 
TCFA would like to thank the sponsors and golfers who made this year’s event possible. Major sponsoring organizations include Amarillo National Bank, Baptist Community Services, Bezner Beef, Cactus Cares, Cargill, Caviness, Champion Feeders, CoBank, Elanco, Five Rivers, Friona Industries, Jax Transport, Kemin, Kirkland Feedyard, Microtechnologies/MWI, Tyson, Underwood Law Firm and Upshaw Insurance.

The SP4K Beef Stik Program launched in October 2017. The program was designed to provide more protein for hungry students in the Texas Panhandle.
 
“Ten percent of the sticks we need for the entire will be funded by this golf tournament,” Howell said. “When we first started, kids would get about 10-12 grams of protein in their bags each weekend, which is woefully inadequate. Today kids are getting 68 grams of protein in their bags. This is protein they desperately need to be successful both at home and school.” 
 
Beef provides ten essential nutrients and vitamins, including protein, zinc and iron – three key nutrients that are essential for proper growth and development of children.  
 
“TCFA is grateful for the strong partnership with Snack Pak and the opportunity it has provided the beef community to help provide high quality beef to students in our communities,” Wayne Craig, Cactus Cares executive director and chair of TCFA’s industry relations committee. “Cattle feeders have a commitment to serve our community, and it has been an honor to be a part of this partnership to reach out and help our neighbors.” 
 
How can you help:  
 

1. Share the Snack Pak and Beef Stik story your social media channels. 2.
2. Give monetarily to the Beef Stick program.  
3. Sponsor your community or a local child. 

  
TCFA would like to thank the sponsors and golfers who made this event possible. Major sponsoring organizations include Amarillo National Bank, Baptist Community Services, Cactus Cares, Capital Farm Credit, Cargill, Caviness Beef Packers, Champion Feeders, Elanco, Five Rivers Cattle Co., HF&C, Hi-Pro Feeds, JD Heiskell, Kemin Industries, Micro Technologies, Nutra Blend, Panhandle Surgical and Tyson Foods. 

10,000 pounds of ground beef. 10,000 pounds of potatoes. 4,700 gallons of milk. 2,000 dozen eggs. 2,000 pounds of cheese. The City of Amarillo, High Plains Food Bank and Hillside Christian Church joined forces with local agriculture producers last week to provide these commodities to families in need. 
 
Amidst the economic and social challenges our communities face due to COVID-19, those in agriculture remain committed to giving back. Why? They care about feeding people. And when there is a need, they find a way to help. This commitment along with community volunteers and local hunger initiatives; the High Plains Food Bank Pop-Up Pantry was able to serve 2,000 families in the Amarillo area. 
 
“When the agriculture community recognizes a need, they find a way to respond,” said Wayne Craig, executive director of Cactus Cares. “Each of our industries has a commitment to serve our community, and this is just one way we can reach out and help our neighbors.” 
 
According to the HPFB, requests for food assistance increased nearly 20-fold throughout the Panhandle network since mid-March. In addition, HPFB’s distribution has increased 34% since March, and in April distributed over 845,000 pounds of food, the highest amount for that month in the organization’s history. 
 
“The High Plains is rich with agriculture production,” said Zack Wilson, executive director of the High Plains Food Bank. “We’re thankful to team up with our local farmers and ranchers as well as Hillside Christian Church to facilitate a drive-thru food pantry that will help fill the gap for families who may need a little extra to get them through this tough time.” 
 
McKenzie Hettinga, a dairy farmer from Farwell, Texas said those involved with the event were grateful to provide some stability as the community works through this time together. 
 
Supporters of the event include Affiliated Foods, Baptist Community Services, Cactus Cares, Cal-Maine Foods, Caviness Beef Packers, City of Amarillo, High Plains Food Bank, Hillside Christian Church, Hilmar Cheese Company, Inc., Jax Transport, Larsen Farms, Nutra Blend, Sarah Farms, Snack Pak 4 Kids, Southwest Dairy Farmers and the Texas Cattle Feeders Association. 

The Amarillo area beef and dairy communities presented a check for $163,600 to the Snack Pak 4 Kids Program (SP4K). The money will provide 218,000 beef sticks to hungry students through the Snack Pak weekend hunger program. The check was presented at the first Beef 4 Kids Golf Classic (B4K), an event coordinated and led by TCFA.

“When agriculture sees a need, they go and find a way to fill it,” said Dyron Howell, founder of SP4K. “There is so much negative talk about agriculture, especially about the beef and dairy industries, but what isn’t talked about enough is the commitment these industries have to serving their communities.”

Wednesday marks National Jerky Day which means people from across the country will head to social media to proclaim their love for one of America's favorite snack foods. Rightfully so. Research shows that spreading protein intake evenly throughout the day - about 25 to 30 grams per meal or snack - may be the most beneficial for overall health and wellness. Snacking on beef jerky is a great way to help meet those goals. 

But for cattle feeders, National Jerky Day, has a deeper meaning. A few years ago, a local charity organization in the Panhandle, Snack Pak 4 Kids, came to the beef and dairy community with a need. The organization had a system in place to help end weekend hunger for local children by providing a backpack filled with kid-friendly snacks each Friday of the school year, but one key element was missing from the backpack: animal protein. And what better protein to help fuel the body and mind of a young child than beef and milk. 

Fast forward a few years later, and the need sparked an idea that became a reality. Now, more than 10,000 kids in the Texas Panhandle and 24,000 across the nation receive weekend bags filled with nutritious food, including the SP4K Beef Stik and Fairlife Milk, to sustain them through the weekend. The beef stick is made from 100% premium beef chuck roast and brisket and produced locally in the Texas Panhandle.