Events › From the Pasture to Public Policy: How a Cattleman Connects Rural Life, Food Production, and Fitness

The 5th Annual Social Justice Speaker Series continues with Ryan Goodman, a beef cattleman, agriculture advocate, and ultrarunner. 

With a lifetime of experience in agriculture and the beef cattle industry, Ryan Goodman is a passionate and skilled cattle manager, communications strategist, community builder, and advocacy leader. Throughout his career, he has worked at state, national, and global levels for farms, ranches, feeders, non-profit associations, extension programs, and agricultural brands and brought that collective experience to help grow the industry's future.

Goodman leverages his diverse and hands-on experience across most sectors of the cattle industry, including cow/calf, stocker, feeder, processing, distribution and retail marketing, to bring a unique and authentic perspective to the beef cattle management, research, and education field.

Today, he brings that experience to the classroom and research field as Beef Cattle Operations Manager at Washington State University (WSU). WSU's beef cattle research program serves the cattle industry across the Pacific Northwest, exploring ruminant nutrition, genetic, and reproductive research with a herd of Angus and Wagyu cattle and two research facilities on the Pullman campus.

Over a 15 year span, Goodman's career branched into the policy, communications, and marketing aspects of the industry. He has provided strategic leadership for consumer advocacy, social media and online community engagement, digital content development, and campaign execution; engaged in brand reputation management and issues response; and empowered others to lead and succeed as part of industry-leading communications and marketing teams at the local, national and global scale.

As an advocate, Goodman connects influential voices and global consumer audiences to share the stories and values of the agriculture community and the people who drive the beef industry.

The Social Justice Speaker Series is powered by The Center for Community Impact and Innovation of the Dayton Metro Library.