Celia Gould was appointed Director of the Idaho State Department of Agriculture in January 2007, the first female to hold the position. She is also the owner/operator of a third generation ranching and farming operation, G+ Ranches of Buhl, Idaho. G+ Ranches raises Black Angus and Angus-Wagyu cattle. Celia is a graduate of Buhl High School and holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Boise State University. Celia spent 16 years in the Idaho House of Representatives, where she served on the Agricultural Affairs, Education, and Revenue and Taxation committees, in addition to serving as the Chairman of the Judiciary, Rules and Administration Committee.

 How are you involved in agriculture and/or the beef industry today?

• Owner/operator of third-generation cattle ranch
• Director of the Idaho State Dept. of Agriculture for nearly nine years
• Proud inductee into the Southern Idaho Livestock Hall of Fame
• Member of Idaho Cattle Association
• Chairman of National Association of State Departments of Agriculture Natural Resources & Environment Committee

How has your life been shaped by agriculture? Agriculture has been my life-long passion, and it has shaped nearly every facet of my life. Throughout my career, the lessons I learned on the ranch have enabled and defined me. In agriculture, we know that the work day doesn’t start at 8 and end at 5. We also know that agriculture is woven into every fiber of our daily lives, not just when we sit down to the dinner table. Those experiences taught me about hard work, community, kindness, leadership and sometimes shear doggedness.

Who inspires you or serves as a mentor? When I was young, I interned for former Speaker of the Idaho House of Representatives Thomas Stivers. During his chairmanship of the House Judiciary and Rules committee, he allowed me incredible opportunities that weren’t normally afforded to interns. I am very grateful for that experience; it piqued my interest in public service and put me on my career path. For the last 25 years, my husband Bruce has always been my sounding board and mentor. That doesn’t mean I always take his advice, but I greatly respect his opinion, knowledge and integrity.

How do you provide encouragement to others? I believe strongly in the power of mentorship and being generous with your time, expertise and praise. It’s no secret that the average age of a person involved in agriculture is going up. It’s incumbent on industry veterans to do whatever we can to engender an environment of mentorship and teaching that encourages young people to stay in agriculture. In that vein, keeping my door open to young people has been a priority. My work with the Idaho FFA Foundation has been particularly important and rewarding.

Cattle graze at Celia’s G+ Ranch.

If given the chance, what message about agriculture or the beef industry would you share with a large group of people? My main message is simple: The future of the beef industry—and all of agriculture—is incredibly bright. During the recession, agriculture was Idaho’s strongest industry. We are the lifeblood of every community in this state, and somehow we always survive the ups and downs of markets and changing public opinion. More than that, ranchers aren’t relics of the past. I look forward to seeing the incredible advancements that beef industry will continue to make while holding on to our best traditions and time-honored way of life.

 What are you most thankful for? Very soon, I will get to welcome our son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren back to the ranch. They are both Captains in the Marine Corp and while I am extremely proud of their service to our country nothing brings me more joy than knowing that the fourth generation of our family will be building a life on the ranch.

What is your favorite meal to cook yourself or for others? Anything with beef, but tri-tip seems to be my go-to meal. It’s incredibly versatile and delicious. Whether it is for the branding crew or a week night after work, tri-tip is always a hit and incredibly easy to prepare.

What is the first thing you do when you walk into a grocery store? Check out the meat counter. When I was a kid my family owned a butcher shop in Buhl. To this day I love to see a beautiful, well-stocked meat counter.

Director Gould, listening intently during a Governor’s Trade Mission.

What is your favorite childhood memory? My favorite childhood memory was going to the Saturday livestock sale with my Grandfather.  Sometimes I would take my best friend and sometimes after the sale my Grandpa would take us to the local pool hall for a cherry coke. That was living large!

What are your guilty pleasures in life? My guilty pleasures in life always involve food. I simply love to eat. I believe I developed this love of food from all the delicious variety of
home-grown and home-cooked meals prepared for our family as I grew up.

Day 1: Women in Ag, Idaho CattleWomen Chair, Robin Lufkin

With the season of Thanksgiving approaching quickly, the Idaho CattleWomen are taking this opportunity to show our appreciation to our fellow women in the beef industry.

Come put a face and name to Idaho agriculture! Stay tuned for our 30-day Idaho Women in Ag Blog Series. Every day in November, we’ll feature a different women every day.

Come here daily to learn more. Or better yet—sign up to receive our blog posts directly to your email so you never miss a post! Fill in your email in the Subscribe box in the righthand column.

Grilled Tri-Tip, right off the barbeque! Seasoned with a dry rub of kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, dried chipotle, cumin, garlic powder and onion powder. An easy and economical cut of beef!

Can you believe Memorial Day weekend came that fast? It doesn’t seem like we can be that far through the month of May, let alone 2015, but here we are! It probably doesn’t come as much surprise that Memorial Day kicked off the summer grilling season. I just love the thought of burgers and steaks flying off backyard grills all across America. But something I don’t love is the fact that a lot of people forgo grilling because they feel intimidated when buying beef. I completely understand that feeling, because even as a beef producer, I’ve been there. But, let me be the first to tell you, anyone can learn more about how to buy beef.

The town closest to where we live is lucky enough to have two of the best locally-owned grocery stores—and when it comes to meat, there’s no one I trust more than our hometown butchers. Last week I sat down with meat cutter/grocery store owner, Brock Lenz, and asked him to give his insight on all things buying beef. Here’s what he had to say:

If you’re planning on buying a steak, the first thing to do is pick out the cut you want. Muscles that don’t get used by the animal make the best steaks. Those include your Tenderloin, T-Bone, Ribeye, and New York steaks—to name a few. Any muscles that the animal uses to move, (known as motor muscles), are going to be your tougher cuts. However, there are a lot of delicious cuts hidden within those motor muscles, such as the Flat Iron, that are just as good as those that come from the top and back of the animal.

This print from Chasing Delicious is one of my absolute favorites! If I had enough room, I’d love to have one hanging in my kitchen! -Jessie

Once you’ve decided on a cut, the next thing to look for is what’s called “marbling.” Marbling refers to the white flecks of fat that is found inside a cut of red meat. The more marbling a cut has, the more flavor it’ll have and the more tender it’ll be.

A lot of people think that a steak has to be expensive to be good. You can’t really go wrong with cuts like the tenderloin, ribeye, etc., which tend to be higher priced; however, there are many other cuts that provide a great eating experience. And they are more economical. When it comes to value, I think Sirloin is your best bet. A Top Sirloin or the Sirloin Tip steak are middle of the road cuts when it comes to price, and the taste is hard to beat. (Note: Even though both cuts have sirloin in the name, they are different. Check out top sirloin vs. sirloin tip to get more info on how to prepare each.)

In my opinion, one of the most versatile cuts is the Tri-Tip. It’s great for grilling and can be used for groups, big and small. It can be tricky to cut if you’ve never done it before, but that shouldn’t keep you from putting one on the grill. Idaho ranchers work hard every day to produce beef that provides a consistent, tender and high-quality eating experience every time!

I love all the selections at my hometown grocery store. A great resource when buying beef is the butcher behind the meat counter.

The worst mistake you can make with beef is overcooking it. Beef can be consumed at a lower internal temperature (145 degrees) than any other animal protein. And keep in mind that your steaks will continue to cook internally for up to ½ hour after they’re taken off the grill (when resting), so don’t cook them until they’re crisp; otherwise you’ll be losing a lot of taste.

Many thanks to Brock for all his tips on how to buy beef!

The Idaho Cattlewomen hope you have lots of beef on your barbeque this summer. Feel free to ask questions in the comments section if you want to know about buying or cooking beef. We are happy to answer!

~ Jessie

It’s National Beef Month. Take the 30-Day Protein Challenge and make beef a part of a health lifestyle!

Hey! Did you know that May is “National Beef Month?” Yes, that’s right…a whole month dedicated to beef! We don’t know about you, but our mouths are watering just thinking about it.

It probably doesn’t come as much surprise that the ladies of the Idaho CattleWomen are pretty excited about beef month in general, not to mention what’s in store for our blog! We’ve got lots of fun things planned for the rest of the month, including a few more posts than normal, and possibly even a giveaway, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled!

Make sure to join us next Monday, as we’ll show you the first of a two-part series filled with tips and tricks for both buying and cooking beef!

Happy Beef Month!

~ Idaho’s cattle ranching women and families