Brian Sapp on the Fatback Pig Project, White Oak Pastures & Building a Meat Business

Brian Sapp on the Fatback Pig Project, White Oak Pastures & Building a Meat Business

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://www.fatbackpig.com/] https://southwestmeat.org/ [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

Sara Scott on Gate-to-Plate Perspective & Marketing Meat on Value (Not Price)

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

Pat Nicholson on Generational Meat Businesses

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

Deidrea Mabry on Leading AMSA, Partnerships & the Expanding World of Meat Science

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/ [https://meatscience.org/] Find SMA at https://southwestmeat.org/ [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

Bo Garcia on Meat Judging, Scholarships & Teaching Gen Z

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