Sixteen-year-old Emily Christensen is a junior at Clarion-Goldfield-Dows High School. She is also an eight-year-member of the Liberty Pathfinders 4-H Club, a three-year-member of the CGD FFA group and has been raising bucket bottle calves since she was three years old. One could say livestock has been a huge part of her life, so when COVID changed how things worked at the Wright County Fair last year, Christensen had to find a way to change too.
Guidelines set in place because of the pandemic stated there would not be a livestock sale at the end of the 2020 fair like there usually is. That left many 4-H and FFA students looking for other options for their animals. Christensen found hers when she heard about the Beef Up Iowa program put into place by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, Lt. Gov. Adam Gregg, and Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig. It was put in place in partnership with the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Iowa State University, and Iowa’s beef producers. Its intention was to deliver beef raised by 4-H and FFA members, and processed by Iowa students, to help feed food insecure Iowans throughout the state through Food Banks of Iowa. It officially began with the first head of cattle delivered July 1, 2020. After checking into it, Christensen thought not only would it be an answer of what to do with her cattle, but it would also benefit others as well as be a good AG learning experience.
Christensen had raised her cattle from the time they were a week old. She got up every morning before school to feed them two quarts of milk replacer and did the same again in the spring evenings.
“After they reached between 1300-1400 pounds, we hauled (two of) them down to the Iowa State Farm to be processed (as part of the Beef Up Iowa),” explained Christensen.
The program was funded by individual donors and the CARES Act funding which allowed processing to continue. More than 38,000 pounds of ground beef have been distributed through the Iowa Food Bank Association.
“I have learned that having a project such as feeding the people during the pandemic requires communication, hard work, and a lot of personal time from everyone that is involved,” said Christensen about participating in the Beef Up Iowa program. “It gives me a great feeling of accomplishment and gratitude to be able to help those in need during the pandemic by doing what I love.”
“It has been a very good learning experience for her,” added Emily’s mother, Heather Christensen. COVID-19 may have shined a spotlight on the importance of Iowa agriculture and feeding the nation, but it also shined a light on young agriculturalists like Christensen who are willing to help others in their own time change.
A summary of food resources available to those in need is available at coronavirus.iowa.gov.
