Joe Leathers is the general manager of the historic Four Sixes Ranch, his employer of more than two decades.

An accomplished horseman and cattleman, Joe understands agriculture from the ground up. Reared as the son of a small rancher and cotton farmer, Joe spent his summers and free time after school in the fields of home developing a strong work ethic that remains with him to this day. After college, he pursued a career in ranching where he served the Moorhouse Ranch as wagon boss for several years. In 1999, he joined the Four Sixes Ranch in Guthrie, Texas, and in 2004 was relocated to the Dixon Creek Division in Panhandle, Texas, where he worked as foreman until 2008 when he moved back to Guthrie to take the reins as general manager.

Joe considers his greatest accomplishment to be his more than 40-year marriage to Louise Leathers and their family that includes four children and 11 grandchildren. Joe’s servant heart led him to volunteer in many capacities and organizations. Heavily involved in agricultural organizations, he serves as a director of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, for which he has chaired numerous committees and serves as co-chair of the Producer’s Council for the Cattle Traceability Working Group. He also is a volunteer firefighter for the Guthrie Volunteer Fire Department.

Troy grew up on a small Charolais operation in Southwest Iowa. He was an active 4-Her, exhibiting home-raised heifers and steers both locally and nationally. He attended undergraduate at Creighton University in Omaha, NE where he majored in Biology. Despite his initial desire to pursue a career in the medical field, he was drawn to research, and missed being involved with the beef industry. Following graduation in 2016, he started his Ph.D. in genetics at the University of Missouri. There he performed research on the genomic variants that underlie artificial selection and environmental adaptation in beef cattle.

Dr. Troy Rowan joined the Animal Science faculty at the University of Tennessee as a part of the UTIA Genomics Center for the Advancement of Agriculture. At UT, Dr. Rowan’s research program will bring together many types of “big data”, both phenotypic and genomic, to understand the genetics of economically-relevant traits in beef cattle. He will also be delivering Extension programming in the area of applied beef cattle genetics and genomics.

Dr. Joseph Dalton is a Professor and Extension Dairy Specialist in Animal, Veterinary and Food Sciences at the University of Idaho. A graduate of Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo (B.S.), Utah State University (M.S.), and Virginia Tech (Ph.D.), his research and Extension program in male and female reproductive physiology focuses on factors important to increasing fertility of dairy and beef cattle. Dr. Dalton recently served as co-editor of a book “Management of Bulls” and currently serves as a co-author of the Artificial Breeding column in Hoard’s Dairyman. He is a past president of the Dairy Cattle Reproduction Council, and a current member of the Beef Reproduction Task Force. He is the recipient of the 2004 University of Idaho Extension Diversity Award, 2021 University of Idaho Outreach and Engagement Award, and 2024 DeLaval Dairy Extension Award from the American Dairy Science Association.

Madelynn Wuestenberg is an Agricultural Climatologist with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, dedicated to enhancing climate resilience in Iowa’s agricultural and food systems. In the role, which began in January 2024, she engages with farmers, landowners, and industry on climate-related challenges, delivering research-based insights and actionable solutions.

A native of Slater, Iowa, Madelynn’s deep connection to agriculture comes from her family’s farming background. She earned a Bachelor of Science in 2022 and a Master’s in Agricultural Meteorology in 2023, both from Iowa State. Her graduate research focused on assessing the environmental impacts of climate change using advanced agroecosystem models.

Passionate about sharing climate-based information and collaborating with agricultural communities, Madelynn views her work in extension as a dream role. By leveraging her expertise in data analysis and ecosystem feedbacks, she provides reliable decision support for stakeholders navigating extreme weather and shifting climate conditions. Her work is further supported by the United States Department of Agriculture Midwest Climate Hub, where she collaborates with state, regional, and national partners.

Dr. Randie Culbertson Originally from New Mexico, spent her childhood on the family’s cattle ranch located in Norther New Mexico. She later attended New Mexico State University where she obtained a B. S. in Animal Science. After completing her degree at NMSU, she moved to Colorado where she worked in the equine industry for a little over 10 years. In 2011, she pursued her graduate degrees at Colorado State University where she earned her M. S. and Ph. D. in Animal Breeding and Genetics. While pursuing her graduate degrees, Randie’s research interests focused on addressing questions facing the beef industry. Her doctoral research focused on feed intake in beef cattle and specifically the implementation for genetic improvement. The last 9 months at CSU, Randie managed and coordinated a USDA grant project examining late feedlot death in cattle. This project examined the effects of pulmonary arterial pressure (PAP) on the performance and survivability of fed steers and begins to answer some questions about this growing concern. Upon completing her Ph. D. in 2019, she accepted a position as lead geneticist with the American Simmental Association and International Genetic Solutions (IGS) where she worked on challenges to conducting the largest multi-breed genetic evaluation for beef cattle and was involved in the development and validation of new EPDs. Last November, Randie joined the faculty at Iowa State University as the Cow-Calf Extension Specialist.

Jake Hlas grew up in Traer, Iowa where he operates his family’s Simmental Cattle operation, Rolling H Cattle Company. Here they focus on raising cattle with functionality and practicality. Additionally, Jake and his family actively show and sell cattle across the Midwest and beyond. Jake graduated from Iowa State University where he studied Agriculture Policy and Animal Science. Currently, Jake resides in Blandinsville, Illinois - where he is the Cattle Territory Sales Manager for Merck Animal Health in Central Illinois. He actively works with cattle producers and veterinarians to develop cattle health solutions across 70 counties.