MEAT People

Hosts Brittany Moore and Lacy Bates welcome SMA summer intern Meredith Magliolo to the Meat People Podcast to discuss her background, college life, and convention experience. Meredith, a junior agribusiness major at Texas A&M from Schulenburg, Texas, grew up in her family’s meat business, Willie Joe’s Processing, which does custom, deer, and retail processing. She shares lessons on hard work from her parents, her favorite ag economics classes and mentor Dr. Mendes, and a Scotland agriculture study abroad. Meredith describes receiving an SMA Foundation scholarship in honor of Cecelia Railey and what it meant to meet her after Railey’s Hall of Honor induction, emphasizing donor impact. She outlines her internship work on convention signage, social media reels, and logistics, highlighting the welcoming SMA culture, networking, and favorite convention event, Best of the Worst. Meredith encourages students to pursue internships, build connections, and stay open-minded about careers in the meat industry.
 
Topics
01:49 Meredith Basics and A&M
02:47 Choosing Agribusiness Path
04:34 Hobbies and Fun Facts
05:56 Family Processing Business
07:46 Lessons From the Plant
09:30 College Favorites and Mentors
10:49 Study Abroad Scotland
11:59 College Challenges and Advice
14:13 SMA Scholarship Story
16:41 Cecilia Raley Connection
18:20 Internship How It Started
21:24 First Day Nerves and Culture
23:01 Day to Day Intern Work
23:54 Projects Skills and Reels
26:42 Working With SMA Team
26:47 Office Culture Fit
27:15 Intern Funny Moments
28:39 Convention First Impressions
30:09 Best of the Worst
30:59 Convention Rewards Challenges
33:00 Steps and Soreness
34:03 Scholarship to Intern
35:21 Post Graduation Plans
36:12 Why Apply to SMA
36:58 Rapid Fire Favorites
42:17 Advice for Students
44:22 Internship in Three Words
45:27 Closing Thanks and Wrap
 

Neil interviews David Englutt about his life, singing, sales career, and long involvement with the Southwest Meat Association (SMA). Englutt describes gaining confidence singing classic country and Western swing (Ray Price, Johnny Bush, Faron Young, Bob Wills) and appearing with the Western Swing Music Society of the Southwest, including a March showcase in Wichita Falls. He outlines his career path from Tarleton State—where he joined activities, discovered meat judging, and won a national championship—into Cargill as its first pork-division management trainee, helping start plants in Beardstown, Illinois and Ottumwa, Iowa, then moving through Smithfield/Gwaltney, Jimmy Dean/Sara Lee, and into equipment and packaging sales before joining Townsend Engineering and later Morrell, which was acquired by JBT. Englutt shares customer-retention keys (integrity, product knowledge, consistency), a sales process acronym “PATTERN,” and emphasizes relationship-building. He recalls his first SMA convention in San Antonio and serving multiple terms on the board, describing SMA as a supportive, family-like community.
SMA StartKleen Dove Hunt 
Friday Oct. 2, 2026 - Saturday October 3, 2026 
Copper Ridge Ranch
Nocona, Texas
Visit www.southwestmeat.org to register. 
 
Links
https://jbtmarel.com/
https://southwestmeat.org/
 
Topics
01:24 How Singing Started
03:00 Old School Country Tales
04:08 What He Does Today
04:42 Mergers and Growth
05:40 Keeping Customers
07:07 Meat Judging Roots
08:11 Getting Involved Early
10:48 Cargill Career Break
13:59 Smithfield and Tar Heel
15:16 Learning to Sell
19:14 Sales Process Pattern
21:37 First SMA Convention
24:59 SMA Family Culture
26:28 Final Thanks and Wrap

Brittany Moore and Lacy Bates kick off a new twice-yearly Meat People podcast recap series by reviewing the 70th SMA Annual Convention and Supplier Showcase at Moody Gardens in Galveston, Texas, with about 532 attendees. They highlight student workers; board updates, and major events such as the Bob Andusek Memorial Golf Tournament (about 110 golfers) that raised $16,860. Friday featured education sessions, scholarship research presentations, and policy updates and a record 92-company Supplier Showcase. The Surfin’ USA dinner and auctions raised roughly $73,000 for scholarships, contributing to $171,000 awarded across 50 scholarships, and Hall of Honor inductees included Ray and Donna Kimbrell and Cecilia Raley. They announce the first podcast guest raffle winner and share dates for the 71st convention, July 28–31, 2027 in Bastrop, Texas.
 
00:00 Welcome and New Recaps
02:02 Galveston Venue Overview
02:58 Wednesday Student Crew
04:50 Registration and Reception
05:49 Board Meeting Updates
07:27 Golf and Mosquitoes
11:39 Thursday Night Music
13:21 Friday General Session
19:30 Best of the Wurst
24:40 Supplier Showcase Record
27:27 Surfin USA Dinner Theme
29:27 Heads or Tails Game
30:47 Auction Night Highlights
31:03 Auction Bidding Drama
31:45 Record Scholarship Fundraiser
32:48 Coffee With Mindy
34:04 Saturday Speaker Highlights
35:15 Gen Z Talent Panel
37:11 AI Takes The Stage
37:55 Poolside Member Hangout
39:00 Scholarships And Awards
40:32 Hall Of Honor Stories
42:43 Dance Floor Finale
44:02 Rapid Fire Recap
46:42 Behind The Scenes Fixes
48:42 Why Convention Matters
53:18 Favorite Moments Picks
58:50 Podcast Raffle Winner
01:00:13 Final Thanks And Next Year

Neil interviews Eddie Behrends, who grew up in Fredericksburg, Texas and now lives on his wife’s fifth-generation ranch in New Mexico while raising three children involved in FFA and showing cattle. Behrends, executive manager of New Mexico’s State Meat and Poultry Inspection, explains the state’s effort to bring back state inspection to support ranchers, build a meat culture, and expand processing avenues; he says state programs must be at least equal to USDA standards, follow nine required components, and the key limitation is not selling across state lines. He recounts a career shaped by meats judging and education, running meat labs at Texas Tech and Colorado State, working at BPI/Empirical Foods, deer processing and sausage production at Hudson Sausage, San Angelo Packing, retail leadership at H-E-B, and returning to Angelo State, emphasizing mentorship, connections through SMA, and giving back.
 
Visit southwestmeat.org/
 
Topics
00:46 Ranch Roots and Legacy
02:27 Raising Kids Ranching
04:16 Why the Meat Forum
04:21 Building State Inspection
10:09 USDA vs State Programs
15:05 Career Path in Meat Science
16:03 Pink Slime Explained
18:23 Words Shape Perception
18:35 Facing Uncertainty
20:24 Early Meat Industry Stops
20:43 Deer Processing in Austin
21:35 QA Manager to H-E-B
23:20 Undercover Meat Cutter
24:02 Market Manager Challenges
24:46 Back to Teaching Meat Lab
25:20 Scholarships and Mentorship
28:28 Music and Being Yourself
29:50 Comparison and Encouragement
32:37 Career Opportunities and Faith
34:07 Give Back and Wrap Up

Neil interviews Brian Sapp about his career and the Fatback Pig Project. Sapp explains Fatback began in 2011 by converting an underused 1996 emu plant in Eva, Alabama into a hog slaughter and fabrication facility, backed by partners including Jim ’N Nick’s Bar-B-Q and others, based on a “three-legged stool” of customer, supply, and distribution. Early plans struggled due to small-plant costs and higher-priced pork for foodservice, but the business was later revived around 2020–2021. Sapp recounts entering meat in 2004 via the University of Florida meat lab and judging, then being hired by Will Harris to build and run White Oak Pastures’ processing plant in 2008, learning he needed help to scale. He discusses SMA’s value, cash-flow pressures, and leaving slaughter in 2023 for relief, briefly consulting before returning as Fatback’s operating partner, and mentions Burning Tree Smokehouse/Barbecue opened in Birmingham in March.
 
Links
https://www.fatbackpig.com/
https://southwestmeat.org/
 
Topics
01:15 Fatback Origin Story
02:18 Three Legged Stool
03:33 Small Plant Reality Check
05:26 Will Harris Connection
06:08 From Flower Farm
06:54 Meat Lab Breakthrough
10:12 Meat Judging Culture
12:22 Skills Needed Everywhere
13:49 Welding Gets Hired
15:57 Keys To New Plant
19:14 You Need Help
20:08 Associations Matter
21:40 Keeping SMA Alive
22:16 Why SMA Matters
23:31 Welcomed Into SMA
24:18 Profit and Pricing Mindset
25:42 Cash Flow Reality Check
27:14 Scaling White Oak Pastures
28:27 Delegation and Hiring Trust
30:52 Leaving to Own Something
33:36 Consulting to Fatback Return
34:43 Slaughter vs Assembly Economics
36:50 Hard Work Lessons
38:07 Wrap Up and Plugs

Neil interviews Sara Scott at the MEAT Forum. Sara shares her background growing up on a Central Valley, California cow-calf and stocker operation, studying ag business and marketing at Oklahoma State, and building a career at Certified Angus Beef working with retail and foodservice buyers, packers, and processors—giving her a “gate to plate” view of the supply chain. Now based in southeast Kansas with her husband Travis and two kids, she runs Sara Scott Coaching, helping meat companies define their ideal customer and sharpen messaging to stop competing on price and start competing on value. She discusses bridging producer-consumer knowledge gaps without overwhelming audiences, why marketers suffer from the “curse of knowledge,” retailer pricing tactics like good-better-best and loss leaders, and the importance of trust, relationships, and industry networks such as SMA.
 
Topics
01:03 Sara’s Ranch Roots
03:18 Stillwater and Youth Ag
04:54 Gate to Plate Perspective
05:43 CAB Career and Trust Gaps
09:15 Ag Storytelling on Social
12:01 Meat Judging Detour
14:17 Coaching Meat Brands
21:29 Retail Pricing and Value
26:42 Going Solo as Entrepreneur
28:50 Favorite Work and Change
32:22 Wrap Up and Travis Scott

The guest is Pat Nicholson, who recounts moving to Mertzon, Texas at age 10 and growing up as a third-generation butcher as his father left corporate grocery to buy a locker plant in 1974, later building Nicholson’s Meat Company into a regional smoked-meats brand that ran for nearly five decades before being sold. The conversation highlights succession planning challenges and respect for fourth- and fifth-generation operators, along with Pat’s belief that timing, experience, and faith shape business outcomes. Pat describes his current work with Texas Best Proteins, including farm-to-market kettle-cooked foods (queso, chili, Cajun items) serving customers like Taco Cabana and Brookshire Brothers, plus Kennedy Sausage and retail stores emphasizing Texas-made products. He also shares lessons from 15 years at Danhill packaging, founding the Meat Board, and deep involvement in SMA—using it to appreciate customers, grow networks, and raise scholarship funds—while emphasizing perseverance, preparation, and not quitting.
 
Topics
00:52 Growing Up in Mertzon
02:29 Succession and Legacy
04:05 Timing Faith and Opportunity
04:51 Texas Best Proteins Overview
07:17 Meat Board Partnership Origins
08:04 Hard Work and Family Stories
10:17 Packaging Career at Danhill
12:15 Jay Daniel Leadership Lessons
13:46 Why SMA Matters
17:55 Scholarships Networking and Mentorship
20:23 Hard Times and Fundraising Wins
22:39 Plant Rebuild and Growth
23:59 Career Reflection and Roots
25:48 Winning Mindset and Closing

The guest is Deidrea Mabry, COO of the American Meat Science Association (AMSA), about her path from 4-H and FFA to Texas Tech, meat judging, and ultimately joining AMSA remotely after moving to Wyoming. Mabry describes her COO responsibilities, including managing sustaining partner and association relationships (including SMA), budgeting and financial stewardship, and organizing AMSA’s annual Reciprocal Meat Conference. She highlights how AMSA supports students through networking, leadership and professional development, and multiple career pathways beyond meat judging, from food safety and R&D to equipment, ingredients, pet food, aquaculture, marketing, law, and medicine. Mabry outlines AMSA’s outreach tools—Meat’s Pad podcast, newsletters, social media, monthly webinars, and websites like meatscience.org and a meat locker resource site—and encourages schools and extension agents to contact AMSA for help starting youth meat judging.
 Reach out to AMSA at https://meatscience.org/
Find SMA at https://southwestmeat.org/
Topics
00:52 Meet Deidrea Mabry
01:33 Path to AMSA COO
03:04 AMSA and SMA Partnership
04:16 Meat’s Pad Podcast
05:09 COO Duties and Budgeting
08:36 Beyond Meat Judging Careers
11:56 100 Years of Meat Judging
13:51 Sharing Resources and Webinars
17:37 Student Membership and RMC
20:48 Youth Judging and Closing
 

Recorded at the Southwest Meat Association (SMA) meat judging contest with support from Forum Meat and Columbia Packing, Neil interviews Bo Garcia, a University of Nebraska–Lincoln extension assistant professor who coordinates the meat judging program and is finishing his PhD. Garcia, originally from La Vernia near San Antonio and a Texas A&M graduate, credits SMA scholarships and describes the SMA as a supportive family network. He shares how he began meat judging in 2018, fell in love with its academic and interpersonal benefits for students, and has coached teams since; his current team is small, with two new students competing for the first time. Garcia encourages students to apply for SMA scholarships and advises young judges to trust themselves and the process. His research focuses on youth education and Gen Z learning preferences and how higher education and employers can adapt training and expectations.
 
Topics
00:56 What SMA Means
01:46 Nebraska Role
02:26 Aggie Ring Story
03:12 Meat Judging Journey
03:51 Family Influence
04:53 Team Update
05:19 Scholarships Explained
08:27 PhD Plans Ahead
09:54 Advice Trust Yourself
11:18 Gen Z Education Research
13:11 Wrap Up Thanks
 

Neil interviews Grace Bryson, a Southwest Meat Association (SMA) scholarship recipient and first-year master’s student in meat science at Oklahoma State under Dr. Gretchen Macy. Grace shares that her first SMA experience was attending the Texas convention, where she felt welcomed and supported by industry members from across the U.S. She explains the scholarship relieved financial stress so she could focus on classes, research, teaching, and helping coach the OSU meat judging team. Originally from near St. Louis, she entered animal science after showing pigs, discovered meat science through an intro class, and joined the OSU judging team in 2023, later earning high individual honors at Houston. She describes judging beef, pork, and lamb carcasses and wholesale cuts, emphasizing anatomy and industry specifications, and discusses interest in people-focused industry roles and possible future PhD considerations.
 
Topics
01:01 Grace Meets SMA
01:46 Roots and OSU Path
03:04 Scholarship Impact
03:49 Finding Meat Science
04:55 Career Goals and Networking
05:40 Judging Team Wins
06:01 Competition Mindset
08:23 How Meat Judging Works
09:53 Teaching and Coaching Students
11:11 What Judges Evaluate
12:35 Wrap Up and Thanks