Kindra Gordon receives BIFAmbassador Award

(SIOUX FALLS, S.D.) — The Beef Improvement Federation (BIF) named Kindra Gordon winner of its 2004 Ambassador Award during the organization’s 36th annual meeting May 25-27 in Sioux Falls, S.D. The honor is given to a member of the media each year for efforts in helping cattle producers understand cattle performance testing and genetic prediction tools.

Gordon is a regular contributor to numerous beef industry publications, including BEEF, Angus Journal, Angus Beef Bulletin, Western Cowman, and Hay & Forage Grower. She is editor of the Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative (GLCI) newsletter, which is produced six times a year and distributed in all 50 states.

Gordon says she strives to present practical industry information to assist beef producers in making decisions that will increase efficiency and profitability. In 2003 she was awarded the Diamond Award for publications writing and the Peerless Award for writing, the top writing award bestowed by her peers in the Livestock Publications Council (LPC).

Gordon grew up on a purebred cattle operation near Bowdle, S.D. In 1994 she earned bachelor’s degrees in range science and ag journalism from South Dakota State University (SDSU), where she competed on successful meats and plant identification judging teams. She obtained a master’s degree in range resources from the University of Idaho in 1996.

Following college, Gordon worked with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in North Dakota, first as a county range conservationist and then as a public affairs specialist in the state office.

In 1997 she joined BEEF magazine in Minneapolis, Minn., as a journalist covering all segments of the beef industry. She drew from her experiences in seedstock, meats and range science. Her compilation of feature articles on natural resource issues earned her the Oscar in Agriculture in 2001.

In addition to her writing, Gordon is an adjunct faculty member at Black Hills State University where she teaches magazine/newspaper feature writing and newspaper layout and design.

Gordon and her husband, Bruce, live in Spearfish, S.D., and own partial interest in several seedstock sires. They have three children: Bridger, 3; Danika, 2; and Matea, born May 21.