Crystal Waters leading Beef 101 group

The first Beef 101 was held at Texas A&M University in 1989 at the request of the Texas Beef Council to help its staff better understand the product that it was responsible to market. Word spread about the program, and beef council staff from other states requested that another program be held the next year. As more people learned about Beef 101, yearly classes were conducted until finally, for some time now, we now have three classes a year. Beef industry personnel from every facet and from all around the world come to Beef 101.

This is the 25th anniversary of Beef 101, and the first class of the year was conducted May 13-15, 2014. About 40 participants were in this class, and after all of these years, the enthusiasm for learning about beef seems to be higher now than when the class began.

The class begins with an overview of live cattle that are harvested later in the day and that serve as the carcasses that are cut by the participants. Jason Cleere, beef cattle specialist, leads this part of the discussion.

The second day of Beef 101 features carcass cutting. This hands-on activity has been the highlight of the program since its inception. Graduate student leadership in carcass fabrication has been both a great learning and teaching tool for them.

Thanks to Davey Griffin for providing leadership for this program since the start, and thanks to the faculty, staff, and students who have contributed their time and talents to making Beef 101 the premier beef education program that it is.