|   Updated: May 11, 2010

Roland May –that’s Dr. Roland May, large animal veterinarian, although he almost seems a little embarrassed by the title – is a dry land rancher in the upper northwest corner of Kansas. He works about 9000 acres near Oberlin, about an hour east of the Colorado border and a short walk south of Nebraska. Half the land is in wheat, corn, alfalfa, milo; crops that he rotates with crossed fingers hoping to harvest twice in a three year span. He runs about 375 head of cattle on the other 4500 acres. In his spare time, he’s part owner of a feed lot.

May got his degree in Veterinary Medicine from Kansas State in 1983 and practiced for just one year. It was an experience that convinced him to go back to the family farm and raise cattle. “Raising cattle is what I wanted to do,” he told me.

“My brother and I run this ranch,” he said when I asked about the cow-calf operation. “It’s been in the family since the 1870’s. I guess we’re the fifth generation to work on this property.”

“I got on the Cattlemen’s Beef Board through the Farm Bureau. I was asked to join and I talked with Don Hullman about it. He said it was a good deal so I accepted. I’m in my second year now.”

May is still a member of the Kansas Farm Bureau and he’s also on the state and national beef advisory board.

Hullman was an old friend, a third generation rancher from Dodge City who was just finishing up his second term on the Cattlemen’s Beef Board. He had spent six years as a member of the Beef Promotion and Research committee and knew the opportunities.

It struck me as the kind of continuity that serves CBB well. One person serves the group with distinction and hands over the reins to the next person, maybe hanging around long enough to whisper a few suggestions in the background. The board gets new blood that way but can still benefit from the knowledge of people who’ve served for years and understand the business.

May serves on the Beef Safety Committee. “We back research to improve the safety of beef,” he said. “We fund research into pathogens like E. coli and salmonella.

With the attacks our industry is facing today, it’s good to have sound, science-based answers to combat their claims.”

May talked about some of the most interesting projects the Board has funded. He was excited about research being done on UV light by Dr. Jim Marsden, Regent’s Distinguished Professor of Meat Science with Kansas State’s Animal Sciences & Industry (ASI) faculty and Senior Science Advisor for the North American Meat Processors Association.

Marsden, one of the most distinguished and well-known researchers in meat science, has proven that UV light can help create a multi-log reduction in bacteria that causes carcass contamination. A short exposure to the light just prior to chill produces a more sanitary primal and a safer product at retail.

“I’ve come to a better appreciation of what my checkoff dollars do,” said May. “I read a report that said every dollar spent returns about five-and-a-half dollars. I know if you don’t have that buck in your pocket right now, it can be tough to give it up sometimes, but that’s about the best investment you can make in your business.”

Chuck Jolley is a free lance writer, based in Kansas City, who covers a wide range of ag industry topics for Cattlenetwork.com and Agnetwork.com.

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