Media Tip Sheet: Colorado State University and the National Western Stock Show

Note to Reporters: The following is a collection of experts and resources at Colorado State University related to the National Western Stock Show. The Stock Show runs Jan. 10-25 at the National Western Complex, 4655 Humboldt St., Denver.

Colorado State University is one of five partners — including the City and County of Denver, the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, History Colorado, and the National Western Stock Show — that have come together to create a shared vision for the future of the National Western Stock Show Complex site as part of the Mayor’s North Cornerstone Collaborative Initiative.

The master plan for the reimagining of the National Western Center, a combined 270-acre site near Interstates 70 and 25, showcases the university’s unique role in this transformation. Colorado State University’s footprint in the site will be part of what is now the Hall of Education, with a proposed equine sports medicine and community outreach clinic, a food systems learning center, a water resources center, collaborative arts programming, a business incubation and industry partnership center, and Denver Urban Extension programs, as part of the new National Western Center. The university aims to be an educational hub for the collaboration, and will present opportunities for hands-on learning. To speak with someone about CSU’s role in reimagining the National Western Complex, contact Dell Rae Ciaravola at 970-491-6009 or DellRae.Ciaravola@Colostate.edu, or Tiana Nelson at 303-376-2613 or christiana.nelson@colostate.edu

New CSU study: Colorado’s Front Range at forefront of agriculture and food innovation
Colorado has long embraced agriculture as central to its economy and innovation as an essential driver of its economic growth. According to a new study from Colorado State University, the pace of innovation in agriculture and several closely related industries — such as water management, animal health and food manufacturing — is picking up in Colorado. A new study, “The Emergence of an Innovation Cluster in the Agricultural Value Chain along Colorado’s Front Range,” identifies trends in innovation as well as factors that position Colorado’s Front Range for the emergence and growth of an innovation-led industry cluster in the agriculture and food system. “Innovators in an increasingly integrated agriculture-water-food-beverage-bioenergy innovation ecosystem are gathering and growing along Colorado’s Front Range, creating next-generation technologies and business models to nourish, refresh and energize the world,” says Gregory Graff, lead author of the study and associate professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics at CSU. Graff will present the study during a roundtable discussion at the National Western Partners Breakfast on Jan. 17 in Denver. To speak with Graff, contact Jennifer Dimas at 970-491-1543 or Jennifer.Dimas@colostate.edu.

National Western Partners Breakfast Saturday, Jan. 17
As part of CSU Day at the Stock Show, the university will host the National Western Partners Breakfast in Denver. CSU President Tony Frank will welcome business and industry leaders and give an overview of the National Western Center redevelopment partnership with the university. The breakfast is an opportunity to highlight the importance of agricultural innovation within the state’s economy to CSU corporate partners and Denver’s leadership, and to showcase the long history and evolving affiliation between CSU and the National Western Stock Show. As a part of the event, a roundtable discussion will be held focused on a new CSU study, “The Emergence of an Innovation Cluster in the Agricultural Value Chain along Colorado’s Front Range.” The study identifies trends in innovation as well as factors that position Colorado’s Front Range for the emergence and growth of an innovation-led industry cluster in the agriculture and food system. The panel will feature Kathay Rennels, associate vice president for Engagement at CSU; Randy Blach, CEO CattleFax; Gregory Graff, associate professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics at CSU; and Doug Johnson, vice president, Innosphere.

Ag Adventure
CSU’s Ag Adventure is an interactive exhibit created in conjunction with several Colorado commodity groups that teaches children about where their food comes from. The exhibit, located next to the CSU booth, includes information from the Colorado Department of Agriculture, Colorado Farm Bureau and commodity groups such as beef, dairy, eggs, potatoes, corn, wheat and honey producers. This year, 4-H’s Cowboy Ethics will be a part of the Ag Adventure exhibit. Guided tours are offered by 4-H agents from Adams, Jefferson, Broomfield, Denver, Arapahoe, Douglas and Boulder counties to about 20,000 school-aged children from the Denver metro area during the weekdays and other busy times, but self-guided tours are also available during off-hours. In all, more than 70,000 people visited Ag Adventure last year. For more information about Ag Adventure, contact Jennifer Dimas at 970-491-1543 or Jennifer.Dimas@colostate.edu.

4-H Day at the Stock Show, Friday, Jan. 16
Friday, Jan. 16, has been designated 4-H Day at the NWSS. Each year on 4-H Day the 15-member State 4-H Officer team attends the stock show and rodeo. From 9 a.m. until the afternoon rodeo performance, State Officers and State 4-H staff are available at the CSU booth to answer questions about 4-H and hand out free giveaways, including clover tattoos. For more information about 4-H Day at the Stock Show, contact Jennifer Dimas at 970-491-1543 or Jennifer.Dimas@colostate.edu.

Seedstock Merchandising Team
The CSU Seedstock Merchandising Team, a select group of eight undergraduate students, will be competing at the National Western Stock Show with two pens of cattle. The students selected these cattle from the 2014-born calf crop produced at CSU’s Agricultural Research, Development and Education Center in Fort Collins. Since selecting them this fall, the team has been developing and preparing these cattle for the upcoming show. The team will have cattle at the Stock Show Jan. 10-17, including CSU Day. During that time, students will host a CSU booth in "the yards.” The team will host a free lunch in the CSU yard pens on Thursday, Jan. 15, at noon and will show their cattle on Friday, Jan. 16, beginning at 8 a.m. (heifers) and 9:30 a.m. (bulls). For more information about CSU’s Seedstock Merchandising Team contact Jennifer Dimas at 970-491-1543 or Jennifer.Dimas@colostate.edu.

CSU Day at the Stock Show Jan. 17
CSU Day at the National Western Stock Show is Saturday, Jan. 17. Colorado State University has a long and storied connection to the National Western Stock Show – beginning with 600 students arriving with their livestock at the first Stock Show in 1906. CSU Day at the Stock Show is a celebration of Western heritage and Ram pride. New CSU football coach Mike Bobo and members of the CSU Board of Governors will kick off the 11 a.m. rodeo with an entrance on the National Western Stock Show’s stage coach. CSU volleyball players also will be featured at the rodeo on CSU Day in honor of the team’s Mountain West Conference victory and appearance in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament this year.

For more information contact Jennifer Dimas at 970-491-1543 or Jennifer.Dimas@colostate.edu.

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