Passionate about Beef

Passionate about Beef : *SD Youth Spreads Positive Message*-
National Beef Ambassador Amanda Nolz (left) from Mitchell, and fellow Beef Ambassador Melissa Green from California	Amanda Nolz, National Beef Ambassador from South Dakota , and Peter Sharpe, Beef Ambassador from Minnesota , serve veal during the Pennsylvania Farm Show.

Take years of experience with cattle, a love of public speaking, and knowledge of the beef industry. Roll those attributes into an enthusiastic and passionate 18-year-old South Dakota farm girl and what do you get? You get Amanda Nolz—the 2006 National Beef Ambassador.

Nolz won the national title last November in Austin, Texas—the first South Dakotan ever to do so. Ever since then, she’s been traveling the country spreading the good news about beef and the beef checkoff to a wide range of audiences.

“My main goal is to connect the consumer to the producer,” says this 5’4” , blue-eyed bundle of energy. “I want to show consumers that beef isn’t something that comes from a factory. It comes from real farms and ranches and from people who work every day to produce a quality product.”

She should know. Amanda grew up on a farm northeast of Mitchell, S.D. raising and showing Limousin purebred cattle with her parents, David and Peggy Nolz. But her connection to beef cattle goes much deeper. Her father’s parents, Alvin and Devona are part of Nolz Limousin, the family business. Her maternal grandparents, Arnold and Carol Wienk, have built Wienk Charolais headquartered in Lake Preston, S.D.

In fact, Amanda attributes her start in the checkoff-funded Beef Ambassador program to her grandmother Carol. “She got me involved in the South Dakota Beef Ambassador program when I was 10 years old,” explains Nolz. The young beef producer won the state’s Junior Beef Ambassador title twice before finally being old enough—age 16 to 19—to try for the contest’s senior division.

She won the title as South Dakota Beef Ambassador in the summer of 2005—and headed off to Texas three months later to represent the state against 23 other contestants from across the country.

In the heat of the competition, this Mitchell High School senior delivered flawlessly her five to eight-minute presentation: “America’s Beef—The True Unsung Hero”. The personal interview segment of the competition gave her an opportunity to convince judges that she had what it takes to talk effectively with consumers, cattle producers and the media.

“The competition was very intense,” admits Amanda. “Everyone there was trying to do their best. You needed to let your confidence and passion show through.”

Her confidence and passion did show through, and Amanda flew back to South Dakota with $2500 in cash, a $1000 college scholarship and what would prove to be one very busy schedule.

Since starting her job in January, Amanda has been traveling with a Beef Ambassador team comprised of the top five winners in the national contest. The two young men and three women hail from California, Wyoming, New Mexico, and Minnesota—in addition to South Dakota. They’ve been to Hershey, Pa., where the ambassadors served at least 3,000 people each day samples from the new Healthy Beef Cookbook and also promoted the veal industry.

In Denver, Amanda attended the 2006 Cattle Industry Annual Convention & Trade Show. It was then off to The World Ag Expo in Tulare, Calif., where she shared with dairy producers the fact that 17% of beef comes from dairy cattle, and how the beef checkoff positively impacts their industry. Trips also include Washington, D.C. to meet with legislators and a return trip in June for the National Grill Out contest. Squeeze in the Boston Marathon, the New York State Fair, the summer meeting of the cattle industry in Reno, Nev. before attending the National Beef Ambassador Contest in Minneapolis in November.

It’s a hectic schedule for someone who is trying to carry on a ‘normal’ life as a highschool student. “It takes a lot of time and I do miss some school,” says Amanda. Besides her role as National Beef Ambassador, Amanda still has duties as the South Dakota representative. Both require media interviews and follow-up paperwork documenting how many consumers or beef producers were reached each time she does an interview for radio, television or print or attends an event.

Even considering the time and energy required, Amanda has no regrets. “I have a chance to combine my love of cattle and public speaking into a job where I’m a spokesperson for this industry.” She also has advice for other young people. “I encourage anyone who is interested in the beef industry or agriculture to get involved in the Beef Ambassador program” she says. Not only does it provide an opportunity for young people to get involved in their industry and make a positive difference, she explains, but it can have a positive impact on a participant’s future. Amanda, who hopes to study mass communications and political science next year at South Dakota State University, has already had job offers. “This experience opens so many doors,” she says. “You get so much out of the experience even on the state level. It’s definitely worth it.”

For more information on the Beef Ambassador program, go to www.nationalbeefambassador.org. For information on entering the 2006 South Dakota Beef Ambassador contest, to be held July 28 in Huron, contact Ruth Anne Farnsworth in Carter, at 605-879-2497, or Kodi Blotsky, Valentine, Neb., at 605-378-3845.