Neil interviews Eddie Behrends, who grew up in Fredericksburg, Texas and now lives on his wife’s fifth-generation ranch in New Mexico while raising three children involved in FFA and showing cattle. Behrends, executive manager of New Mexico’s State Meat and Poultry Inspection, explains the state’s effort to bring back state inspection to support ranchers, build a meat culture, and expand processing avenues; he says state programs must be at least equal to USDA standards, follow nine required components, and the key limitation is not selling across state lines. He recounts a career shaped by meats judging and education, running meat labs at Texas Tech and Colorado State, working at BPI/Empirical Foods, deer processing and sausage production at Hudson Sausage, San Angelo Packing, retail leadership at H-E-B, and returning to Angelo State, emphasizing mentorship, connections through SMA, and giving back.

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Topics

00:46 Ranch Roots and Legacy

02:27 Raising Kids Ranching

04:16 Why the Meat Forum

04:21 Building State Inspection

10:09 USDA vs State Programs

15:05 Career Path in Meat Science

16:03 Pink Slime Explained

18:23 Words Shape Perception

18:35 Facing Uncertainty

20:24 Early Meat Industry Stops

20:43 Deer Processing in Austin

21:35 QA Manager to H-E-B

23:20 Undercover Meat Cutter

24:02 Market Manager Challenges

24:46 Back to Teaching Meat Lab

25:20 Scholarships and Mentorship

28:28 Music and Being Yourself

29:50 Comparison and Encouragement

32:37 Career Opportunities and Faith

34:07 Give Back and Wrap Up