UNIVERSITY Park, Pa. — Penn State’s Block and Bridle Club won three awards at the National Block and Bridle Club’s 105th Convention, which took place Feb. 3-5 in Nashville, Tennessee. This year’s event was hosted by Middle Tennessee State University in conjunction with CattleCon, the largest annual event and trade show for the U.S. cattle industry.
The Penn State Block and Bridle Club earned third-place awards for chapter activities and published yearbook, and animal science major Megan Zipprich won fifth place for outstanding junior. Last November, she was one of 10 recipients of the All-American Livestock Judging Award during the National Collegiate Livestock Judging Contest, held in Louisville, Kentucky.
The College of Agricultural Sciences sent more than 30 students to the event to network with Block and Bridle members from across the United States and experience CattleCon, which is organized by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. The event is considered the premier gathering for cattlemen and women to conduct business, view industry innovations and set policy. This year’s show set an attendance record with more than 9,400 cattle producers and industry stakeholders converging on downtown Nashville.
At the convention there were Block and Bridle chapters representing 31 universities. The students spent a day touring businesses, research facilities and livestock operations across Tennessee. Some of the tours included visits to Lazy G Bison Ranch, Turner Dairy, Ingram Angus and TN Farmers Co-op. The remainder of their trip was spent attending CattleCon, where they had the opportunity to network with producers and industry professionals and attend educational talks focused on the newest technologies and best practices in the beef industry.
The Penn State students were accompanied to Nashville by Block and Bridle Club advisers Tara Felix, associate professor and extension beef cattle specialist, and Morgan Brumbaugh, Penn State beef and sheep assistant manager. Attending CattleCon was a great experience for the students, many of whom aspire to work in the cattle industry after graduation, according to Felix.
“It was exciting for them to see thousands of producers gather together with the common goal of moving their business forward and driving beef demand and creating policy that secures a bright future for the next generation of producers,” she said. “Our students are thinking about the future and their careers, and it’s good for them to be exposed to a segment of the animal agriculture industry.”
Next year Penn State students will not have to travel far to attend the National Block and Bridle Convention, Felix added, because Penn State will host the event in Pennsylvania.