Behind the Burger
Created by the New Mexico Beef Council, we are telling the stories behind the beef in New Mexico.
Behind the Burger
Year In Review: How New Mexico Beef Council Built Connections from Balloons to Classrooms
We celebrate a year of bold outreach: a locally piloted hot air balloon, a fast-growing school beef grant, a statewide sports nutrition push, and farm tours that bring health pros onto ranches. Every move centers one goal—connect producers and consumers with clear stories, real education, and local pride.
• Launching a New Mexico Beef hot air balloon with Zia approval
• Starting a podcast to bridge ranch and table
• Extending the Sports Nutrition Game Plan through NMAA
• Practical fueling tips for student athletes on the road
• Farm tours for dietitians and health sciences students
• Photo contest showcasing ranch life across the state
• Beef grant expansion from 17 to 55 schools
• Teaching beef cookery and nutrition in classrooms
• Community engagement at state basketball in The Pit
• Stewardship of producer dollars and board-led priorities
• Upcoming KOB4 cooking competition series
• Balloon Fiesta debut and ongoing outreach
This podcast covers the fiscal year from July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025.
If you would like more information, please visit nmbeef.com
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Welcome to Behind the Burger, the podcast brought to you by the New Mexico Beef Council. Today we're mixing things up. So our whole team is here to look back on fiscal year 2024-2025, which ended June 30th, 2025. So we want to share our top highlights from the year, from events to education, new projects, and we think it's been an exciting season for beef in New Mexico. So we're pretty excited. So bear with us. Not your normal beef council podcast, but we're really excited. So first we'll introduce ourselves.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I'm Jane Hartman and I run the social media and digital marketing.
SPEAKER_02:And I'm Kate Schultz, and I am the registered dietitian. And I'm Liz Roche, and I'm the office manager.
SPEAKER_03:And I'm Caroline Romo, our executive director. And uh so I'll start us off. I always uh I've said a long time, especially uh in in uh corporate life that I usually try not to ask anybody to do something I'm not willing to do. So it's good to it's good to put me on the spot first, right? So um, so two big things for me. Um one is our hot air balloon. So the New Mexico Beef Council purchased a hot air balloon. The name is sort of uh pending. We're we're wondering if it's the beef balloon. There were some jokes, you know, it's the ribeye of the sky, but that also means something else to some people, and uh and then uh meatloaf. I thought meatloaf sounded fun on the radio, so chase crew to meatloaf. Anyway, so we haven't named the hot air balloon, but we have a now Albuquerque-owned, New Mexico-owned uh hot air balloon that says Beef It's What's for Dinner on it, and is a beautiful red and black uh southwestern pattern. It also has a Zia on top, approved by the Pueblo of Zia. And then we also have the New Mexico Beef Council logo and New Mexico Taste the Tradition logo, which is our friends at the Department of Ag, a special uh you know logo program for New Mexico products and New Mexico companies. Uh so we're really excited about the hot air balloon. I know um uh when we started talking about it and looking at advertising and uniquely New Mexican advertising, we we you know went to the went to the balloons and thought, how can we do this? It it probably helped that. I started at the Beef Council around Balloon Fiesta, you know, in the fall, and so that was the first thing that I was walking around. Like, how can beef council be involved? And so we we thought of this, we've had a lot of help, a lot of partners. Um, the team, we've had a lot of conversations about it, a lot of looking at the thing. But to me, it's really exciting. Our pilot is Trenton Caldwell, a great family. Crew manager is Wes Caldwell, his dad, and then their Trent is now a third generation balloonist, so his grandpa, his dad have all been involved in balloons for many years. So I think that's a really special part of that locally owned, that family thing. And then, and then the last thing I'll say about it, I could talk about it for hours. Um, but the last thing I'll say about it is that the cool thing I've learned about the ballooning community is it's a lot like ranching in the beef community. Everyone's willing to help, everyone's willing to teach. We had our test flight recently, or our first flight recently, and they're teaching us how to pack it up, they're treating it with the utmost care. And I just think that's a really special thing, and then and then the help that we've gotten, even I should shout out Mike Garcia who helped us uh uh purchase the balloon. But just everyone has has showed us the utmost camaraderie and care, and I'm I'm just really excited. So by the time this podcast comes out, you guys will have seen us at Balloon Fiesta, seen it all over social media as we're recording. It's still kind of top secret, but uh we are very excited, and not top secret, we've told a lot of producers. We wanted Cattlemen to hear it first and our board members to get to share it out to people. Um, anyways, so that's that's maybe my uh first one. And then um my second one I would say is launching this podcast has been a real highlight for me. Um I think this has been a really neat way. A lot of people are getting their media in this way, and uh we're really excited. Every time someone's willing to spend 20 to 40 minutes listening to what we have to say feels like a huge honor, right? So if we had one listener, I'd I would be really excited. So, um, and we have, you know, more than that. Um and uh so yeah, so I think this podcast has been really fun. I really hope that we can continue to connect producers and consumers and just tell the story of ranching because I believe it's a positive story. I believe they're doing a really great thing, and um, and this is an easy way to tell the story uh and get the information out there, and that's why we're using it today to talk about what we've done with the beef council because it is an it doesn't cost extra to uh put it out there again. So so that's me. So uh speaking of the podcast, Kate, you were able to join for us a nutrition episode that was really fun. Um, what were your standout moments this year?
SPEAKER_02:So there have just been so many. Um the Beef Council has been doing just so many countless things, so it was hard to narrow it down to just two, but working with the team and coming from the lens of nutrition and dietetics, really for me, uh being able to utilize the sports nutrition game plan, which was founded and created by our partners uh and graciously extended to us from the Texas Beef Council for other states to use, has been really, really cool uh in the fact that this is a resource that is really geared towards high school athletes. We know that there's lots of maybe more resources available for individuals who are student athletes at a division one, division two, a college level, but not a lot that is available to student athletes at a high school level. So this is something that we have extended in the state of New Mexico, really through our partnership with the New Mexico Activities Association. Um, what I love about this is that there's an educational component to it. So, you know, we love to be able to have brand recognition, um, have our banner, our logos, places, but this really fits that education component that we work so hard to educate consumers in the state of New Mexico. So, in partnering with New Mexico Activities Association, we've been able to bring the sports nutrition game plan to schools, to athletic directors, parents, coaches, um, and student athletes. And the way that I also like to look at it is it really provides, whether you're a student athlete or not, it really just provides a great foundation of healthy eating that will ultimately hopefully carry throughout their entire life. Um so high school students, it's a it's a really pivotal, pivotal time where they're wanting to be independent, make their own food choices, but this is a wonderful resource that I think really meets them where they are and providing great things as far as meal plans, snack ideas. You know, New Mexico is a rural area, so teams are oftentimes traveling for hours between schools, and they may only be able to stop at a convenience store. So there's a resource that was created that said if you are at a convenience store, these are what you should choose. So look for beef turkey, maybe look for you know chocolate milk, look for those things where you're gonna have a great combination of carbs, fat, and protein to continue to fuel you. Um and we want to fuel athletes or we want to fuel students on and off the field. So, you know, this also is is just a wonderful um something I get really excited about. I, like you, um, with the balloon could talk about the sports introducing game plan all day. Um but I just love the partnership with the New Mexico Activities Association. Um, you know, it's definitely a very reputable um organization just as a New Mexico Beef Council. So partnering with them to be able to extend this resource has been really, really cool, and I look forward to being able to extend it into this next fiscal year as well. And then something that I really enjoy in being in this position is as we've kind of talked about, being a connector and connecting what we do with um, you know, all kinds of different audiences. Predominantly I work with fellow medical professionals, so dietitians, dietetic interns, nurse practitioners, physicians, in dispelling myths and misperceptions in regards to beef nutrition and just beef in general. And so we hosted a farm tour in May where we were able to host about 10 registered dietitians and dietetic interns from UNM. Um it was just a great experience. They loved it. We were able to get them out on a ranch so they could see firsthand branding, um, you know, and just the care that goes into the cattle. Meet a producer, and so from that, we now have other opportunities to work with UNM for other tours and really expanding that to undergrad medical professionals of all types. So traditionally, I work with dietitians and dietetic interns. They were kind enough to extend this opportunity really to anybody in health sciences. So excited to see uh, you know, who is going to attend our next tour at the end of October. And I think that that is one of the most important things that we can do because we know people are so far removed from agriculture. We know with that, then kind of an unnecessary fear happens. And so being able to tell people really where their food comes from, what's in their food, uh, and really just make that connection, I think is so incredibly important. So, and what we do through NMIA and what we're doing through farm tours, uh I really think that we're able to have great um outreach, not only to consumers, but to medical professionals.
SPEAKER_03:Oh, absolutely, and I think uh special shout out to uh New Mexico Wine and Grape Growers Association and New Mexico Cattle Growers Association who helped us with those that tour specifically.
SPEAKER_02:Absolutely.
SPEAKER_03:Uh loved having them.
SPEAKER_02:And Jane, you have been uh behind so much of the digital connection, so thank you so much for being willing to share out um all of my nutrition uh because of course that is always top of mind for me. Um but I know you've had such amazing and successful results in in all of the social media that you have been doing. So, what are some of the highlights for you?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, thanks, Kate. Um, yeah, and thanks for always jumping on video when I ask you to do something for me and you too, Carolyn. Um, yeah, so this marks my first full year of social media. So we've done a lot of different things. Um really trying to provide a lot of value to people of New Mexico through social media. So we share a lot of recipes and inspiration, and um we want to tell the story of ranching in New Mexico and make that really easy to do. And so what we noticed is people love beautiful New Mexico ranch pictures. Um, so one of my favorite things that we did this year was a life through the fence photo contest. And I think I told you like, I really hope we get 10 or 20 you know submissions. At least five, right. And we ended up getting like over 430 submissions, and they were beautiful. And every time I opened an email, I was like, oh my gosh, look at this. I'd grab my kids and look at this sweet cow or this beautiful. It's just you can just tell it's New Mexico immediately upon seeing it. So I loved this because I got to connect with a lot of producers, um, hear their stories. Man, there's a lot of history and legacy in ranching. And it was really sweet. So I got to tell a lot of those stories on social media, which I think um was really cool. Um, cool for the producers to be able to have a platform. That's what we're here for, to give ranchers a platform. And then the consumers love the stories too, so that was fun. And I also got to pro to connect with um some great photographers around New Mexico. There's a lot of talent, and so I'm hoping to keep continue those relationships and get us a lot of beautiful uh photos of this beautiful state, so that was my favorite thing, and then a close runner-up would be the um giveaways we did for like families. So we like to highlight family meals um in September, and so people sent us, you know, pictures of what they're eating at their table and you know what kind of beef are people eating. So that was fun to see. And then we did a share the love um giveaway where the winner was this uh toddler holding a big old ribeye steak, so that was sweet to see too. So it's just been a lot of fun connecting with um the families across the state. So so we saw a lot of families participate on social media, but Liz, you got to take it right to schools and speak to the next generation. So tell us more about that.
SPEAKER_01:We did with our beef grant program, uh, which is the New Mexico Beef Council offers to reimburse schools up to$1,000 per school year for the purchase of beef to use to teach about cooking beef, beef nutrition um in their classrooms. So it was really exciting. Uh the program itself has grown from 17 schools to over 55, which is a 300%, more than 300% increase in one year. So that's so exciting.
SPEAKER_02:Another thing kind of connected to schools, yeah, that you guys thought was really cool and they love that you could participate in through NMAA was with Ed State basketball. So a little bit about that and how what that whole experience looked like being in the pit in Albuquerque and all of the teams um, you know, they're representing their schools, rural, urban, and yes, how you and Carolyn were able to engage.
SPEAKER_01:Yes, that that was very kind of eye-opening to me because you know, you raise your kids and you take them to play in their sport at a competition, and you see a school from where you live. And at the tournament there, we saw schools from all over the whole state. And it was very exciting.
SPEAKER_03:Oh, we had the best time connecting with people and and uh Liz is awesome at the booth. She's she is the you know warm, friendly face that that represents the beef council in a lot of places. Um and we we had no idea how many connections we would make at that tournament. But basketball, apparently, you know, I think I think people say Texas has football, right? I think New Mexico has basketball. I don't know if it's because we get so much wind or whatever it is, we're inside playing basketball, but New Mexico plays ball. Like, I mean, basketball's a big deal. So the tournament was really fun. And then even back to the beef grant, I was gonna say I I got I got too flattered when you said the the 300% and took me a second, got me distracted. But um the the work Liz has done with those beef grants, we've we've worked on you know bringing those schools into the fold of of hey, what other resources do you need? What other things? So Liz is constantly sending them, you know, new posters for their classroom and new resources, and then and then we we went ahead and said, Hey, do you guys want us to come to your schools? Can we come talk? And they were so excited, and so we brought a chef and we cooked them beef and then and then Kate would talk nutrition. And I think uh that was a huge thing to be a part of high schools and and um and just you know be in the classroom. Every time we get in the classroom, we think it's an honor. Any of those experiences are uh always always wonderful.
SPEAKER_01:On the beef grant also, I think one of the even more impressive statistics is that twenty-five out of thirty-something counties in our state, we were in a school teaching about beef.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, so when we start talking about next year, how do we get in those other five, right? That's right. Yeah, I think I think the beef grant is a really great program. And again, it's every year if you miss the deadline, if you're a teacher and you're listening, you miss the deadline, reach out to us. We'll make sure you don't miss the next deadline, or maybe there's room for you still. We we uh absolutely want teachers to uh understand that if you're willing to have beef in the classroom, we'll reimburse it. And and uh we reimburse it through we do the reimbursements throughout the year, too, so that you're not, you know, if if it's coming out of your own pocket, you're not out that money for a long time. And um, every time you get those checks, know that that's Liz. Liz is doing the the background work for that, and we uh we love that. I think the beef crown is a really great program. And it's not nothing new under the sun, right? The New Mexico Beef Council has been doing it for a long time. I know I I'm pretty sure they do it in Arizona and other states, but it's a it's a great program. So we love that. We love that. Well, I think what makes me the most proud is seeing how um everything adds up to connections, producers connecting with consumers, um, and consumers feeling connected to where their food comes from, right? So every time we talk to whether we're in schools and we're trying to teach young people about it, or we're, you know, in this podcast answering questions, you know, we've had a couple questions or or mostly they come on social media, and we get to tell those stories that that people wouldn't have the opportunity to uh hear or learn from, I think that's huge. So, so you know, one of the questions we kind of had was, you know, if somebody was gonna ask us what has the beef council been up to lately, what's the one thing? And I think we kind of all came to the consensus that we didn't have different answers for that. The, you know, we've already answered that in the things that are our favorite things, but the biggest thing is trying to make connections, trying to constantly, you know, build our network, build our connections so that when we have a conversation and I'm sitting at State Fair with a restaurant and they want to buy local beef, and I know there's a producer down the street, I can call and say, hey, this guy's looking for local beef, and we can make that connection. That I mean those things, and then you know, somebody needs a chef and we oh we've got a guy and we know that, or or you know, we're getting into these these uh medical professionals and talking to them because uh you know we wanted to we wanted to uh open up the tour to our Albuquerque connections and all of the things. It's just all about connections and and uh trying to put in the the work and put in the miles and wear out some tires if we have to and get to places where people need want to hear from us. Um but yeah, that connection thing has been great. It's been really fun. Um so uh so another question for each of us to answer, and maybe um um I don't know if I should go first or last, but we talk about this being a mission-based job. We are serving a mission. Our mission is to uh be the marketing arm of ranchers and really tell the story of ranching, right? So we have those that think thing to drive beef demand, or our goal is to drive beef demand. And some of the ways we do that is by telling stories and by talking about how healthy beef is, how it sh can and should be a part of a healthy diet, by you know, showing kids sometimes we were in school showing them they didn't didn't eat much beef, and they go, Oh, this is delicious. Like, yeah, once you try it, we don't we think you'll come back. We're pretty sure. Um, and so so but anyways, but we feel like it's mission-driven because we get to represent ranchers places they couldn't be, and what an honor it is. So for me, I just feel like every time we're working, you know, we work harder, we work later, we work more hours, and and it's it's hard not to because we just want so badly to do a good job for the ranchers because we believe in what they're doing. We, you know, some of them are like family now, and we just so much want to make sure that they can be proud of what we're doing, and that their dollars, because you know, side note, Beef Council is funded by dollars from farmers and ranchers, and we we believe that their dollars uh mean something, and we want to make sure that they're going further and that they can be proud of what they've spent their money on. Um so that's kind of I don't mean to domineer that answer, but is there anything that you guys want to add on that of of how how it feels to get to serve ranchers? You did a great job. Okay. Well, we talk about it all the time, and so I don't mean to take words out of out of anybody's mouth, but it is a conversation that that this means something.
SPEAKER_02:And I think it is top of mind in everything that we do, you know. So just making sure that everybody understands that that we are wanted to be wonderful stewards of um, you know, the the money that we receive and with that make sure that we are meeting all of their priorities and their needs. Um and so that's also why we have a board, you know, that we uh really take direction from and make sure that they have uh input into what we're doing and the activities that we're involved in. Um but yeah, I think we all take very seriously. Um, you know, some of us come from an ad background here, some of us don't, but we still all have uh, you know, a really deep understanding and appreciation and respect for the people that we represent, and we don't take that lightly. Absolutely, absolutely.
SPEAKER_03:And a good shout out to the board as we sit around and we're talking these successes, they're all you know created and approved and uh encouraged by our board members, right? So we have a board of nine voting members and one ex officio member, and we they're the best. They've been encouraging, exciting, they have the best ideas, and uh we love to remember oh, so-and-so said this. Okay, let's do that. And uh I just think I think that's been a been a great thing. So anything else anybody else wants to add?
SPEAKER_00:Uh I just wanted to say that it's just such a privilege to be able to work for reamtures and in ag. Um I think especially coming from an ag background, you like you know how hard they're working, and so it's just a real honor to get to tell their stories.
SPEAKER_01:I agree. Um not coming from AG. Uh these people are amazing. They're the best to work for, they're the most down-to-earth yellow mate, and it's it's an honor to work for them.
SPEAKER_03:Absolutely. And and the respect they treat us with and the and the kindness, and then and then you know, the the story we're always trying to tell is the care they have in their animals, in the land, all of the things that they do so much. Um And they don't have time to be where we are, and so that's why we get to represent them, and that's that's a really like like you guys said, a privilege. Uh okay, so kind of the the last question, looking forward to next year. Um, so obviously we're, you know, the the fiscal years are kind of confusing sometimes when I think about it. So we're sitting in here in September, and uh we've already started the next year. Um, but we've we're talking about last fiscal year, July 1st, 2024 to June 30th, 2025. So now speaking of this coming year uh and this current year, what is um something you guys are looking forward to? Should we go clockwise again? Sorry.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, sure. I think I'm looking forward to building on the foundation, or I feel like this last year we got to try a lot of new things because we were all kind of new at it, and um now we have a lot of good data about what worked well and doing more of the things that really worked. So I'm excited about that moving forward.
SPEAKER_03:Me too.
SPEAKER_02:And I think um I mentioned, you know, one of them with being the farm tour, but kind of the two things that are on my radar next um are definitely the farm tour at the end of October that's gonna be extended to um, you know, a plethora of future medical professionals. And then something that we have participated in for the last couple of years is a physician uh toolkit um opportunity where we work to get information directly into physician offices on the health benefits of beef. Uh, this round of toolkit extension for physicians is just protein in general and how beef is uh really, you know, just an incredible protein source. Protein is a trending ingredient these days. Um we know that 71% of consumers are looking for uh ways to increase their protein. And so really, I might be biased, but there's no better uh protein source than beef uh providing, you know, that 25 grams of protein in three ounces and all of those other essential nutrients. So really looking forward to um being able to see that information in physician offices and then get feedback from them. Um, you know, ultimately we want to be able to engage with that crowd, but sometimes it's a little bit more difficult getting face to face in front of them. So this is a wonderful uh way to extend that information and really meet them where they are, meaning that it is delivered directly to their office. So looking forward to having that information and again those results. And I think what Jane had said and what I really want to make sure that everybody also understands is that everything that we do, we want to make sure that it has a good ROI. Um so you know, we try a lot of different things, uh, which is fantastic, but at the end of the day, we always want to make sure that we're it's impactful and that we're able to share those results, you know, with our board and with our producers. And so this is one of those where you know I'm I'm looking forward to being able to share out those evaluation results from these toolkits that are sent directly to physicians.
SPEAKER_01:It's awesome. Um, for me, it is we had a great opportunity come up where KOB TV reached out to us and wanted to partner with us on a cooking competition show. And it's so exciting because they are gonna be cooking beef. And this competition was open to home cooks around our state, and we're really excited um to have met KOB, the KOB4 TV uh team, and they are wonderful to work with. So look forward to a great TV series coming early next year.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, we think, right? We think we we don't know we don't have an official uh launch date, but soon. And then uh I was thinking too, it will live on their app too, so you can watch it on demand too, which will be really fun. Uh so oh, and then I guess I get to say something too, right? Um so I think something I'm looking forward to for this fiscal year is the balloon fiesta and the launch of the balloon, right? So that's kind of a two-for-one, same answer. Uh easy, easy out for me, but I just really think that the balloon fiesta is a really important part of New Mexican culture, a really important part of Albuquerque's culture. And uh, you know, I think it's over a million people come to Albuquerque for the event over the 10 days. We get to carry the American flag one day, we get to be, you know, highlighted as as a balloon of the day that day, and just really uh have a big presence there and and really give our new hot air balloon the you know launch, a reveal and all of it that it deserves. Uh so locally owned, local pilot, and then this, you know, local international event. Uh so I'm I'm looking forward to that. Personally, I just love going to the Lynn Fiesta, and I just can't wait that that's gonna be my job for 10 days. So gotta get my gloves ready so I can help uh you know roll up that balloon. Uh so um a lot to look forward to, a lot of things uh that we've we've accomplished and we've tried and we've uh worked together. I'm so grateful to get to work with uh these four women right here, or us these three women right here, uh just including myself, sorry. Um, but I am so grateful to work with you all, and it is I can't say it enough. It's an honor to serve producers and and we're also open to feedback. So if you guys have ideas, comments, thoughts, concerns, please let us know. My cell phone is in too many places now. I'm not gonna put it on the podcast, but you can message us and then we'll get you my cell phone. But we uh would love to hear from you, we'd love your support, we'd love your input, and um we really appreciate uh for ranchers listening. We really appreciate the work you do to feed the world, the work you do to care for the land and the livestock. And we wouldn't have jobs with without the work you do, and we really hope to uh help increase demand and make your life easier and make your way of life continue. Uh so thank you again. Thank you to the team, thank you to our videographer Ella, and um, and I guess our editor is Steven, usually at NCBA. Uh thank you for our listeners, and we can't wait to uh share what's next. And we hope you join us for, you know, our next podcast will be back to interview. Uh until next time, thank you for tuning in to Behind the Burger. Behind the Burger is a podcast produced by the New Mexico Beef Council with the goal of telling the stories of the cattlemen and cattle women of the New Mexico beef industry. Thank you for joining us for today's episode. If you would like more information, please visit nmbeef.com. Whether it be a burger, a steak, or another beef dish, we hope you are enjoying beef at your next meal.
