Speaker Bios

Kevin Good

Cattle-Fax Market Analyst

Kevin Good, Cattle-Fax Senior Market Analyst and Manager of Corporate Accounts is responsible for the Kansas, Oklahoma and Southern Colorado feedlot regions and well as servicing Coroporate Accounts. Kevin was raised on a purebred cattle operation. He is a graduate of Kansas State University, where he was a member of both the meats and the livestock judging team.

Kevin has been with Cattle-Fax since 1982 and has covered feedlot, stocker and cow-calf segments of the industry in numerous areas of the country.

Cattle-Fax is a member-owned organization whose objective is to help member cattlemen make more profitable marketing and management decisions. Cattle-Fax supplies its members, in all segments of cattle production and feeding throughout the United States, with timely market information, analyses and educational programs to assist them in making better bottom-line decisions. The information, including data provided by members, is developed by Cattle-Fax's staff of market analysts and researchers. Cattle-Fax information is available to members through a weekly printed report, in conversations with analysts on toll-free lines, and on video screens and personal computers.

Mark Akin

General Manager Circle A Ranches

I have managed Circle A Ranches for the past 16 years and have been in the cattle industry all of my life. Along with my wife Leah, we have two daughters Lauren 16 and Arin 13. Our family is involved in the Missouri Junior Cattlemen’s Association, National Junior Angus Association and the 4-H Club.

During my 16 years at Circle A we have grown from 400 head of cattle on 1,200 acres to 9,500 head of production females on 31,000 acres at four locations thru out the state of Missouri and Iowa. We maintain a Registered Black and Red Angus Herd along with our Purebred Commercial Angus herds. Over the period of time we implemented and gathered progeny records for breeders and bull studs, this program is known as the Sire Alliance. We have one of the largest privately held performance data base measuring over 15 traits per animal, and have developed EPD’s on our Purebred Commercial Angus herd. I’m particular proud that our organization pioneered the economic traits for profit index, which was the first of its kind to address multi-trait selection for profit.

N.T. Cosby, PhD

Sr. Consulting Nutritionist Land O'Lakes Purina Feed

N. T. Cosby is a senior beef cattle nutritionist with Land O’Lakes Purina Feed and lives near Laddonia, MO.  His responsibilities include providing technical service and training to Purina Mills’ dealers and sales specialists in the Midwest and Mid-South.  He works with cow-calf producers, stocker operators, and feedlot operations to offer nutritional and management consultation and to successfully implement programs designed to optimize production and maximize profitability.  He also assists in coordinating the field testing of new beef products developed at the company’s research farm in Gray Summit, MO.  He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Florida and his doctorate from Colorado State University.

Mark Allan, PhD

Research Geneticist USDA, ARS, US Meat Animal Research Center

Dr. Allan spent his youth involved with horned and polled Hereford cattle as a member of Allan Fitting Service and Allan Herefords. After obtaining his bachelor degree, Mark was involved in the beef industry working directly with purebred cow/calf production, first as the herdsman for Adams Brothers and Co., Kilgore, NE, and later as the manager of Sullivan Limousin, Dunlap, IA. In 1997 he returned to graduate school and studied animal breeding where he used mouse models to understand the genetic basis of metabolism in livestock species.  Presently, Mark works as a member of the USMARC beef genetics team, mapping production traits in beef cattle.  Mark is actively involved in the Beef Improvement Federation and stays active in the cattle business with BarA Cattle Company, Schulenburg, TX, owned by Dave and Becky Allan.

For questions or more information, contact Amy Cowan at (816) 842-3757 or