Rendezvous City Roundup celebrates beef

Central Wyoming College (CWC) is proudly hosting the Rendezvous City Beef Roundup Aug. 29 in Riverton. The event will bring beef consumers and producers together to celebrate the benefits and sustainability of beef production, provide educational opportunities for the public and present a steak tasting to crown a producer with “The Best Beef in Wyoming.”

Promoting beef producers

“The Rendezvous City Beef Roundup is a whole day dedicated to Wyoming beef,” says Tyler McCann of Wyoming Cowboy Cuts, assisting CWC with the event. “We want to promote what CWC is doing with the mobile slaughter unit and showcase Wyoming beef producers.”

“This event is so important for Wyoming and for Fremont County,” says McCann. “This is an opportunity to educate consumers and promote beef producers in the area.”

McCann explains people are often unaware of who processes and sells their home-raised beef. More so, consumers who are new to directly-marketed beef are unaware of the process. 

                  “Inevitably, we sell a whole or a half of a beef, and we are asked to cut it all into ribeye steaks,” says McCann. “Consumers are always looking to learn more about the products they buy and eat, and this is a great opportunity.” 

Educational opportunities

The Rendezvous City Beef Roundup will offer educational programs and presentations ranging from beef preparation to economic impact, grazing and new technologies in the beef industry. 

CWC will introduce meat science faculty and showcase their mobile abattoir unit. Cooking demonstrations will be provided throughout the day, presented by the CWC Culinary Program. 

Fremont County Cattlewomen will also be attending the event. Their booth will feature educational aspects of beef and byproducts. 

Les Barkhurst, president of the Independent Cattlemen of Wyoming, will present on the economic impacts and sustainability of grazing in Wyoming and provide information on purchasing locally produced beef to consumers. 

Val Murray, of Murraymere Farms, will explain beef chain technology and share her experience exporting beef to the Pacific Rim. 

The keynote speaker for the event will be State Rep. and rancher, Tyler Lindholm, sharing his knowledge about how the Herd Shares Act will benefit both consumers and producers.  

All of the presentations and demonstrations, along with food trucks and vendors promoting beef, will be included in the general admission tickets. 

Beef tasting challenge

Premium tickets will gain access to participate in the steak tasting Beef Challenge as producers compete for “The Best Beef in Wyoming,” sponsored by Murdoch’s Ranch and Home Supply. Participants will taste a serving of each of the attending producers’ steaks and vote on the best tasting beef. 

Nine producers from around Wyoming will bring their home-raised beef for a chance at the title. 

“We are excited to use this event to promote local food and Wyoming Beef,” says McCann. 

Tickets are available online at cwc.edu/foundation and at the door. A portion of each ticket will support a meat science scholarship at CWC. 

Averi Hales is the editor for the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to roundup@wylr.net.