Contributions/Commitments to Youth
Richard Goodrich Scholarships: University of Minnesota
Two $1,000 scholarships are awarded annually to upcoming juniors and seniors in Animal Science. These scholarships are to provide vital support for research and education by providing teaching and research funds. Scholarship recipients are selected in early February, but the funds are awarded the following school year. Eligible students must be a current student in CFANS, majoring or minoring in Animal Science, must be a member of at least one University Club, and must have a GPA of 2.80 or greater. Richard Goodrich was dedicated to research and teaching his entire career; thus, these scholarship opportunities are made available to honor his memory. One year after Richard's death, these scholarships have been awarded and will continue to be awarded in the future.
Supporting 4-H and FFA
Mark has demonstrated his support of the cattle industry in the Midwest and beyond in a number of ways. First, as a young person, Mark was a founding member of the St. Croix Angus Association which included Minnesota and Wisconsin cattlemen. He felt it was important for people who wanted to promote quality cattle to unite. However, Mark's strongest role in supporting and promoting the cattle industry has been with youth (See Awards / Honors). Mark's hard work and dedication in support of the 4-H and FFA Livestock shows at the Minnesota State Fair for the last 35 years has been valuable in assuring young people have positive experiences with their animals. He is a very familiar face at these events as he helps to orchestrate the behind-the-scenes organization, and he does this work proudly. He realizes that participation by inspiring young cattlepeople in these events will help encourage future generations to get involved in the industry.
Supporting the Minnesota Beef Expo
Another beef industry avenue Mark has been instrumental in creating and coordinating involves an event that has found great success over the years, the Minnesota Beef Expo. In 2000, Mark arranged for an opportunity through the State Agricultural Society to utilize the Minnesota State Fair facilities in hosting the first Minnesota Beef Expo. The Minnesota Beef Expo had long been a dream for Mark and several other prominent breeders because they felt the great need for a venue to showcase and celebrate the Minnesota beef industry. The Minnesota Beef Expo has fast become one of the most forward-looking beef industry events in the Upper Midwest, and includes many youth-oriented events like Knowledge Bowl, Fitting Contest, Premier Exhibitor, Showmanship and more. One of the most rewarding accomplishments associated with the Minnesota Beef Expo is the Minnesota Youth Beef Experience Program, also known as MYBEP.
Supporting the Minnesota Youth Beef Experience Program (MYBEP)
Claudine Goodrich has been dedicated to young people her entire life. As an English teacher at Mahtomedi Middle School for 30 years teaching language skills to sixth, seventh and eighth graders, Claudine dedicated most of her days to helping adolescents enhance their reading, writing and speaking skills. She took those talents and applied them heavily in MYBEP to ensure that there would be many young people ready to enter the agricultural world with strong communication 
skills. Mark and Claudine clearly understand that a person can't just have passion for agriculture to help the industry survive, they have to have the ability to communicate to an urban audience which often is completely disconnected from the realities of rural experiences. They also realize the average age of most farmers/ranchers is late fifties. Therefore, MYBEP was created to provide a crucial role in keeping agriculture alive through young people, and the Minnesota Beef Expo is the perfect venue to showcase this valuable program.
Claudine Goodrich is the coordinator, along with Virginia Mold, for this one-of-a-kind program. MYBEP is designed to aid youth with their dreams of starting in the cattle business and becoming an integral part of agriculture. The program partners a seasoned cattle producer who is willing to donate a heifer to a youth who desperately wants to join our beloved industry, but may not have the means to do so. Youngsters between the ages of twelve and sixteen living in the five-state area must complete a lengthy application explaining their needs and means to take care of an animal for a year. Each young person who receives a heifer is responsible to learn from the master cattleman, MYBEP coordinators, and experts in the industry on how to raise, bred, and show the heifer, as well as make connections with people in agriculture. Each recipient works closely with Claudine to write 4 progress reports and a final Reflective Evaluation, create a scrapbook, and practice interview skills. Claudine works one on one in helping each individual to improve their writing and speaking skills in hopes these amazing young people will become successful advocates for agriculture in the future. So far, this program has been extremely successful as most of these youngsters continue in the industry in some important way.
Since the original five heifer recipients were named in 2004, MYBEP and very generous cattlemen across the Midwest have given 155 heifers as of 2020 to well-deserving young people. Claudine has coached each one of these recipients, and she has enriched the process through the years to become more effective, in-depth, and helpful. It is clear that MYBEP benefits both donors and recipients as many have forged powerful connections that will last a life time.
MYBEP Achievement Award:
The MYBEP Achievement Award was created two years into the MYBEP experience as Mark and Claudine wanted a way to inspire each recipient to do their very best. After raising the heifer for a year, each recipient is required to return to the Beef Expo to compete in 4 areas: showmanship, interview, scrapbooking, and written reports. Thanks to the Farmer's Union, a $1,000 cash award and a specially designed belt buckle is awarded to the winner of the Achievement Award.
MYBEP Beef Ideas and Insights Symposium:
This program was first devised to be like a pizza pajama party for those young people who applied for a heifer, but did not receive one. Dar Giess, an amazing cattleman who is always spouting new ideas, thought there should be a way for those young people who still wanted to be involved with cattle to have an opportunity to learn more, even if they did not receive a heifer. . .and not only that, Dar shouted, how about we give away another heifer at that time from the Minnesota Cattlemen's Association. And so, the Thursday Night Symposium was born. Since that conversation with Dar in 2007, the Association has given away a heifer each year on that special evening and provided a special mentor for the recipient.
The Symposium also plays a pivotal role in keeping young people engaged in agriculture. On that night, anyone is invited to attend and receive a free pizza dinner. They also may attend various learning sessions like animal nutrition, hoof care, IVF process, BQA certification, and more. Claudine provides a session on tips to improve completion of the MYBEP application. A prominent person in the industry will present, and some of the speakers have been Kevin Oschner from Cattlemen to Cattlemen, Lance Pekus the Cowboy Ninja, the Peterson Farm Brothers, Don Schiefelbein, and Kirbe Schnoor from RFD-TV. This evening has become a memorable and rewarding event for those who attend, whereas many of the applicants introduce themselves to Claudine and explain they are determined to keep reapplying for a MYBEP heifer!
Hannah Bolduan from Caledonia, Minnesota, received the 2011 Red Angus heifer donated by the Goodrich Place on behalf of the Minnesota Red Angus Association.
Heather Thorstensen with Agrinews interviewed Hannah about her experience. Heather wrote that Hannah was excited to have this MYBEP heifer join her herd of four other heifers/cows that she raises as 4-H projects. She would show at Houston County Fair and other shows in the area. She was excited to have a registered animal because they bring more money. Hannah explained that any profits from selling the heifer's future offspring would go to paying for her college education which would be focused on the ag industry.
UPDATE: Hannah and her family are amazing people who had a very difficult 2020 as they lost their beloved father, Mike. They also lost both of Mike's parents within six months. Hannah felt Covid was a bit of a blessing for her family as she and her sister, Heidi, were able to be at home to help mom, Cindy, with healing and with calving. Hannah graduated from South Dakota State University and is currently working at the FSA office in Caledonia, as well as helping with the cattle at home.
We are proud to know the Bolduan family as they are kind and caring people. In fact, they turned around in 2014 and donated a MYBEP heifer to Dylan Smith from Benson, Minnesota. Proof positive that they also believe in giving back to this industry by paying it forward.
Alissa Mae Stai from New London, Minnesota, received the 2006 Red Angus heifer donated by the Goodrich Place Inc. on behalf of the Minnesota Red Angus Association.
Tracy Tebben, Alissa's FFA advisor, writes that "Alisa is a very responsible young lady who would give her animals the best possible care. She has worked hard to join her family in owning her own beef cows. This donation of a heifer would be an excellent start for this young lady's goal of owning a small herd of beef cattle." Alisa has three older sisters who have raised cattle and she would like to follow in their footsteps. However, due to some hardships, it has been extremely difficult to purchase an animal. In the future, Alissa would like to build her own herd and continue her education in agriculture. She may focus on beef production or genetic research. This is a hard-working young lady who has done an excellent job with her heifer so far.
Andrew Scholtz from Comfrey, Minnesota, received the 2004 Angus heifer donated by the Goodrich Place Inc. on behalf of the Minnesota Angus Association.
Andrew stated in his MYBEP application that "I am thirteen-years-old and just this past year I enrolled in the beef exhibit at my county fair for the very first time. I worked hard through the year with my animal, caring for it and learning different things from my dad about our beef herd. I was fortunate enough that my crossbred steer, which was home raised, made it to the State Fair competition. This was very exciting to me. Shortly after this, I received a phone call from our school FFA advisor informing me of this Youth Beef Experience Program. I was very excited because I have always wanted to own beef animals, just like my brother recently did. If I were to be selected to receive one of the heifers, I would feel so fortunate and this would give me a start in the beef industry. It would be an honor to work with an experienced purebred breeder to develop this heifer into a foundation for something I could build on for my own future." Andrew and the entire Scholtz family have become dear cattle friends, and we are proud of their motivation to be involved in beef production.
UPDATE: Andrew graduated from South Dakota State University and is an agronomist. He and his wife, Lanie, love being outside with cattle, horses and dogs. They own a second-generation Angus operation, Scholtz Cattle Company, in Wentworth, South Dakota and a second site in Comfrey, Minnesota. Emily, Andrew's sister, received a MYBEP heifer from Tom Carlisle in 2007. She also graduated from South Dakota State University and is involved in swine nutrition in Pipestone, Minnesota and Scholtz Cattle Company. The Scholtz family will always be cherished by the Goodrich family.
Supporting Local Youth
Peter Heebink from Baldwin, Wisconsin with his heifer from GPI.
We have known Peter since he was in his early teens and he was constantly asking questions about cattle, pedigrees and genetics. He's purchased several heifers and we are very proud of Peter's steadfast commitment to his small Angus herd. He also has donated numerous hours of his time in helping us at several of the Minnesota Beef Expo events. Thank you Peter.
