Dr. Jason Smith
Dr. Jason Smith, Assistant Professor and Extension Beef Cattle Specialist as an Extension Beef Cattle Specialist for the Department of Animal Science and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, located in Amarillo, Jason’s primary efforts are focused toward developing and supporting educational programs that benefit beef cattle producers and other industry stakeholders. Jason also works to conduct applied and demonstrational research in beef cattle nutrition in order to link fundamental discovery to application in the field, and answer real-world production-relevant questions that would otherwise remain unanswered.
Travis Thorne,
Capital Farm Credit
Travis Thorne is Market President for Capital Farm Credit’s Plains Region. Travis was born and raised in New Mexico, and after graduating high school he attended Texas Tech University where he obtained a Bachelors of Science in Agriculture and Applied Economics and a Bachelors in Business Administration. While at Texas Tech, Travis was a member of the 1998 Meats Judging Team and served as the Texas Tech Masked Rider from 1999-2000. After graduating from Texas Tech in 2002, Travis began his 20+ year career in the Farm Credit System, working for several associations in New Mexico and Texas. During this time, Travis has served on many different committees and boards supporting agriculture, youth development and his community. Such involvement includes Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers, State Fair of Texas, Rodeo Austin, Bryson School Board and Bryson United Methodist Church. Travis resides in Bryson, Texas with his wife Lori and 2 children, daughter Braydee and son, Bryce.
Dr. Morgan Treadwell, Ph. D
Morgan Treadwell, Ph.D. is an associate professor and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension range specialist. Her research and extension focuses on prescribed fire and grazing management to optimize native plant diversity, suppress brush, and maintain grassland and savanna systems. She ranches with her husband and 3-year old daughter in Schleicher and Menard Counties running Dorper sheep and a commercial angus cow calf operation. Treadwell Cattle Company was recognized as the 2020 Outstanding Rangeland Stewardship from Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association as well as the 2020 Excellence in Range Management from the Society of Range Management.
Dr. Kevin Pond
Dr. Kevin Pond currently serves as the Dean of the Paul Engler College of Agriculture and Natural Sciences at West Texas A&M University. As an educator of university students and professionals in the animal agriculture and food industry, he is also an internationally recognized expert in animal
nutrition. Originally from rural Ithaca, New York, he raised sheep, swine, and cattle, which financed his education. After receiving a Bachelor of Science in Animal Science from Cornell University, he attended Texas A&M University receiving an M.S. and a Ph.D. in Nutrition. Dr. Pond served on the faculty of North Carolina State University for 13 years, was Chair of Animal and Food Science at Texas Tech University for 15 years, and Head of the Department of Animal Sciences at Colorado State University for seven years. He conducted nutrition and sustainability research in North America, Southeast Asia, South America, and Northern Africa. As a team member, he has been involved in food safety research in the United States, Mexico, and the Caribbean. He is a co-author of a leading textbook on animal nutrition, is widely published in scientific literature, and is a holder of 14 patents. His wife and adult children are all involved in agriculture or food safety; together, the family operates a Texas ranch that has been in the family for five generations.
Laura Burandt
Laura Burandt is the third generation of management on her family’s Texas Panhandle ranch located between Perryton and Canadian, where they run a commercial red & black angus cow-calf and stocker operation with various other enterprises. She currently works with her parents, each taking different roles in land, cattle, and business management responsibilities.
Laura graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Agriculture Communications & Animal Science from West Texas A&M University, and also from Texas Christian University’s Ranch Management Program. She has interned on the Four Sixes Ranch in Guthrie, TX and the Giles Ranch in Ashland, KS. She has worked in every segment of the industry from a Kansas Research Feedyard to Texas cutting horse trainers, and she has also assisted ranches with both day labor and ranch operations consultation.
While Laura has always had a heart for the industry, her passion was given direction upon returning home to the family operation. Her experiences have provided a foundation to grow from, but it’s been her interest in land stewardship and healthy business that have prompted her pursuits in regenerative grazing and cattle management practices, as she strives to live and voice the ideals of stewardship - which she believes are as old and genuine as the earth upon which we live and purpose to make a living.
Dallas Mount
Owner of Ranch Management Consultants (RMC) home of the Ranching for Profit School and the Executive Link program. Dallas has led RMC since 2019 and worked with hundreds of ranchers across the US, Canada and Australia to position their business for economic profit and ecologic health. After working with University of Wyoming Extension for 18 years, Dallas started teaching the Ranching For Profit School in 2012 and quickly established himself as an elite instructor. Dallas and his wife Dixie, have two adult children and own and manage a grazing operation near Wheatland, WY. RMC is focused on creating profitable businesses, with healthy land and happy families.