Jim Schwertner of Capital Land and Livestock in Schwertner, Texas, has been named the recipient of the Beef Industry Vision Award, presented by the National Cattlemen's Foundation (NCF). The award, sponsored by Ford Motor Company, was presented Saturday at the 2005 Cattle Industry Annual Convention and Trade Show in San Antonio, Texas.
The Vision Award was established to recognize the best beef innovator of the year. The recipient is an individual whose innovation has been incorporated into his or her operation and has enhanced their business and the cattle industry overall. Nominees were evaluated on the basis of effective use of technology, impact on production costs, ingenuity of implementation, innovative marketing, impact on the industry and optimum resource management.
While Schwertner's company is well known in cattle feeding circles, he also is involved with stocker cattle and is one of the largest livestock dealers in the United States. However, his involvement in developing industry-leading programs such as the Vac 45 program known as Schwertner Select, Beef Advantage and Consolidated Beef Producers has left an particularly indelible mark on the cattle industry.
"For years, I've believed that the industry needs vertically integrated information," Schwertner said. "The current technology, combined with individual ID, could evolve this industry into a vertical marketplace focused on quality and consistency. From the rancher to the retailer, we can evaluate the quality of the product that is being produced, striving to represent a better and more wholesome center of the plate for the consumer."