"A simple act of recognition can often transcend a moment into a moment that matters!" - Futurist Jim Carroll
Sometimes, a simple momentary act of recognition will go a long way toward building a longer period of success!
Yesterday, in my keynote for a few thousand cattle ranchers at CattleCon 2024 in Orlando, I gave an early shoutout to the remarkable progress the industry has accomplished through innovative thinking and hard work. The audience gave a pretty massive and sustained cheer, which was rather unexpected. The moment taught me a powerful lesson that I need to make sure I work carefully in what I do - always give recognition to the hard work a group of people have performed, before advising them what they need to do to continue with that hard work into a faster future!
How did this come about? Early on in my talk, I shared these key statistics which give an overview of what the industry has accomplished with an amazing pace of steady innovation since 1997:
- it produces 13% more beef from 30% fewer cattle
- each lb of beef produces 16% less carbon emissions
- it is utilizing 33% less land and 12% less water
- actual bovine emissions are only 2.6% of global greenhouse gas, compared to 26% for transportation
- livestock represents 40% of global agricultural production and supports the livelihood and food security of 1 billion people
- it also represents 15% of global food energy and 25% of dietary protein
- not to forget that grassland ranging and grazing is the most sustainable form of agriculture known
The cattle industry today takes a fair amount of abuse and criticism - and I didn't get into that in my talk other than to forcefully advise that they more forcefully tell their story to the world. I thought it important instead to speak to their efforts and acknowledge their amazing innovative spirit.
What is that spirit? This slide drew notice to the top 10 key innovation efforts that the industry has been relentlessly pursuing for many years:
The industry has been using smart devices (''fitbits for cows') for livestock health management, has relentlessly integrated smart technology into the automation of the farm, and has been relentless in its pursuit of animal breeding methodologies and technologies. Perhaps the most fascinating trend has been what can be called "precision livestock farming" - quite simply, utilizing advanced technologies to more actively manage the process of grazing for maximum benefit.
When you acknowledge an industry for the hard work they've already done early on in your keynote, you've won over an audience. It makes it much easier to let them know all the additional work they are going to have to undertake to align ot a faster future.
There's a key lesson here that can be found in the smile - a little recognition can go a long way towards ultimate success!
Futurist Jim Carroll has appeared at dozens of agricultural and farming events over the years and has spoken to tens of thousands of farmers, ranchers, and ag industry executives in these events. He believes that the industry represents one of the most underrecognized innovation success stories of our time.