When other families are opening presents on a snowy Christmas morning, Anne Burkholder or one of her employees don coveralls and rubber boots to care for cattle in the family feedlot at Willow Island, writes Elizabeth Barrett for the Gothenburg Times.

“I don’t like when it snows on Christmas because it’s no fun scooping bunks or getting feed for the cattle before our kids open their presents,” said the co-owner, manager and president of Will Feed Inc.

But that’s the life of beef producers—365 days a year—as they do what is necessary to give quality care to their animals.

“It’s all about setting up our animals for success,” Burkholder explained. “Healthy cattle make healthy beef.”

Burkholder, who chairs the technical advisory committee for Nebraska’s Beef Quality Assurance program, believes in holistic or all aspects of animal care.

“That’s what beef quality assurance is all about,” she said.

In fact, BQA’s mission is: “To maximize consumer confidence and acceptance of beef by focusing the producer’s attention to daily production practices that influence the safety, wholesomeness and quality of beef and beef products.”

As a feedlot owner and manager, Burkholder takes pride in the way she and her employees care for cattle.

“It’s my responsibility to provide good care,” she said. “I take it seriously and the other 800,000 cattle producers in the United States also take it seriously.”

To read the entire article, link to The Gothenburg Times.