It's Agriculture Celebration Week, so it's only fitting that this week we sat down with the week's host, Jess Peterson; the chair of the Ag Committee, Mike Phillips, and the Chamber staff member who planned this week's events, Alyssa Voeltz.

Overview of the Chamber's Celebration Week Events

Our Ag 101 Podcast Episode

Here are Marya and Jack's answers to this week's Rorschach questions:

1. What is your favorite cut of beef and how do you like it cooked? 

Marya: Filet Mignon and I like it cooked perfectly. Which is to say, medium-rare.

Jack: Ribeye is the objectively correct answer, but I really like skirt steak. It's tougher than ribeye, but it has a REALLY rich, beefy flavor. It's super thin, so you just sear it on high heat on both sides and it will be cooked through; then, cut against the grain to negate some of that toughness.

2. What is the biggest hot-button issue facing Ag today?

Marya: I feel like I could say “prices” and it would always be true, no matter the day.

Jack: Climate and consolidation. As fewer and fewer people work in food production the remaining farms and ranches get bigger, less labor intensive, and more capital intensive, which creates a new set of challenges for those operations and for rural communities.

3. What is your favorite Ag season?

Marya: Spring. I love all those baby cows and green fields.

Jack: Definitively Fall for a lot of the same reasons Mike mentioned. I actually enjoy putting up hay, but I don't love irrigating. Fall mostly gives you the hay without the irrigation.