Last month I caught up with ever busy and world-traveling Cheyenne McEndaffer at USMEF to ask about her career in agriculture and her work to help start the newly formed Women‘s Meat Industry Network (WMIN).

How did your career in agriculture start?

McENDAFFER: I was born into it. My family managed several ranches in my early childhood and then we started a slaughter and meat processing business when I was 7 years old. I showed livestock growing up and was involved in 4-H and FFA, including meats and livestock judging.

Could you share a little more about your background and, from your perspective, what sort of opportunities there are for women in agriculture?

McENDAFFER:I enjoy being involved in the beginning of the supply chain to the end. My husband and I have a cow-calf seedstock operation in Northeast Colorado and also help my in-laws on their dryland farm. I studied meat science in college and my day job involves promoting U.S. red meat exports around the world. I work closely with packers, processors, and exporters on that end of that food production chain. So from my perspective, the food industry has huge opportunities for women. I especially see opportunities within this industry for those with a STEM interest. There are many options, from operations to quality assurance, food safety, and sales/marketing. And so many different sectors of the food industry: I used to be a food safety/ animal welfare auditor and audited pickle plants, bourbon factories and plants that made fish fluff, refried beans and cheesecakes, as just a small sample. The options are endless in the larger food industry.

How did WMIN start and what is its mission?

McENDAFFER: We started working on WMIN almost four years ago, inspired by the Meat Business Women in the UK. WMIN isn’t just for women in the primary industry (say packer/processor), but for all sectors of the meat and poultry industry, including foodservice, retailers, packaging, and more. The ultimate goal of the group is to build a community, as well as to recruit and retain female talent in the industry.

Our three main priorities are mentoring, professional enrichment, and networking. Membership is currently free because of our sponsors.

If someone wants to learn more about WMIN, how do they go about it?

McENDAFFER: The best way is to follow us on social media, as well as check out our website. It’s www.wmin.org and click on ‘Join Us’ to become a member for free. We typically offer monthly virtual seminars through either the mentoring or professional enrichment groups.

What changes would you like to see in ag during your career?

McENDAFFER:I would like to see less industry infighting. Whether it is fighting with your neighbor because they are in a different beef association or a state targeting a historic ag show in Denver because of state political differences, I really think we have lost the big picture. I have and continue to see very concerted efforts globally from groups who intend to remove animal protein totally off the plate in the name of human and planetary health. We know the data is behind us on why this is actually more negative for those issues, but this doesn’t stop these very influential groups and people from expanding this message. Look at a few recent examples: Netherlands’ emissions standards and what that means for farmers; the EU Farm to Fork policy directly countering how we produce food in the U.S.; the proposed SEC rule on sustainability reporting for public companies — there are very serious threats to all of U.S. ag at our doorstep and fighting with each other distracts from what I see are much larger, livelihood-changing issues.

What do you like most about what you do?

McENDAFFER: I've been lucky enough to travel to 36 countries in my career. Whether I'm talking to a cow-calf farmer in England, a feedlot owner in Peru or a ranch owner in Brazil, we all have the same goals. We want to be good stewards of our land and our animals and we want to leave something for the next generation. We all enjoy producing food for our countries and the world. We all speak the same ag “language.”

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If you’d like to hear more about WMIN and my interview with Cheyenne, you can listen to the Food Chat podcast by clicking here.

Note: The views and opinions expressed in this interview by Cheyenne are her personal views and are not representative of USMEF.

Opportunities in Ag for women: An interview with Cheyenne McEndaffer at the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF)

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