By DEBORAH BEHRENDS
Illinois Correspondent

SYCAMORE, Ill. — Drawing upon a wealth of experience as a lifelong Missouri rancher and award-winning broadcaster, Andrew McCrea brought DeKalb County livestock producers a few laughs and a message of hope and encouragement.

“Turning Ordinary into Extraordinary” was the theme of his talk at the annual combined meeting of the DeKalb Area Pork Producers and the DeKalb-Kane Cattlemen’s Association on Tuesday, Jan. 27.
A fifth-generation rancher from northwest Missouri and past chairman of the Missouri Beef Industry Council, McCrea is the host of the syndicated daily radio feature “American Countryside.” Doing most of the interviews himself, in person, McCrea’s show has won five Oscars in Agriculture.

One of many uplifting messages McCrea offered is that the agriculture community is uniquely set up to build relationships.
“The rest of the world needs us,” he said.

The challenges producers face today are legitimate concerns, McCrea said. “But we learn and adapt and still feed billions.”
And while feeding those billions is crucial, McCrea said it’s also crucial to continue to educate those billions about nutrition.
Individually, producers may not be able to affect world events, but “that’s why our associations are so important.

“Look at these times not as challenges, but opportunities,” he said. “Change is inevitable but there is no greater time to be involved in agriculture than now.

“Keep sharing the message,” McCrea said.

Annual awards

Also during the meeting, the presidents of both organizations offered a look back at achievements of the past year, and presented two annual awards.

Pork Producers Treasurer Greg Pritchard presented Kayla Meyer with a $500 scholarship from the pork producers.

A senior at Hinckley-Big Rock High School, Meyer was the 2008 pork ambassador for the organization.

Serving as the FFA Section 6 president, Meyer also is active in 4-H and is a member of the National Honor Society. She plans to attend college to earn a degree in agriculture education.

Cattlemen’s Assoc. President Mike Woltmann presented Garrison Govig with the Darin Jordal Memorial Award, a beef efficiency award, for his work. He is raising seven beef cattle with the help of his dad and a mentor, Jamie Willrett, who serves several national cattlemen’s organizations. A 7th-grade student at Clinton Rosette Middle School in DeKalb, Govig is from Malta.