With research and data top of mind for both the membership and the American Angus Association Board of Directors, the group’s June meeting was focused on topics and decisions to help keep the Angus breed progressing forward. This recap episode covers highlights from the meeting, including:  

• Questions and details about livestock efficiency research funded through the Global Methane Hub  
• Proposal of an AHIR data recognition program  
• Heart health research update 
• Success at the World Angus Forum 
• Consumer research on Certified Angus Beef 
• Upcoming business review for Angus Media regarding inflation factors  
• Declarations for the Board Treasurer position  

HOSTS: Mark McCully  

GUESTS:  

Jonathan Perry, chairman of the American Angus Association, has spent much of his life working in the purebred business. As general manager of Deer Valley, Perry developed an Angus program that balances all economically relevant traits in cattle that maintain structural soundness and phenotype. Perry and his wife established the Hickory House restaurant in 2014, and it specializes in serving 100% Certified Angus Beef ® (CAB)-branded product. 

Darrell Stevenson, White Sulphur Spring, Mont., holds strong ties to the Angus breed and a history of activity in the Montana Angus Association. In 2019 Stevenson and his wife, Sara, expanded from Hobson onto a new unit in White Sulphur Springs to establish a later-calving herd operating as Stevenson Down T. Although separated by a mountain range, Darrell continues to breed and market genetics with Stevenson Angus Ranch. 

John Dickinson is a fifth-generation Angus breeder and a former National Junior Angus Board (NJAB) chairman. A University of Illinois graduate and former regional manager for the American Angus Association, Dickinson often makes the trek between his cows in California and his home in Idaho, where he lives with his girlfriend, Katie Bishop, and their children, Blakely and Silas.  

Danny Poss is a first-generation Angus breeder from Scotia, Neb. Poss has taken on several leadership roles in the industry, including the Nebraska American Angus Association Board of Directors and the Nebraska Cattlemen Burwell Affiliate. Poss and his wife, Kristi, have four children: Nolan, Nathan, Neleigh and Natalie. They live on the operation, where they run nearly 750 registered females and farm about 2,500 acres of corn and soybeans.  

RELATED READING:   

President's Letter

Letter from the Board of Directors

Angus Joins Global Initiative to Improve Livestock Efficiency 

From Thin Air 

Breeding for a Better Future  

Don't miss news in the Angus breed. Visit www.AngusJournal.net and subscribe to the AJ Daily e-newsletter and our monthly magazine, the Angus Journal.

HOSTS: Miranda Reiman and Mark McCully 

GUESTS: Tyler and Andy Musgrave  

Musgrave Angus wants to be known for balanced, moderate cattle that thrive in different environments. On this episode brothers Tyler and Andy Musgrave share their philosophy on using their own sires vs. sourcing outside genetics, how they’ve created outliers while also remaining consistent, and the importance of maintaining the traditional Angus “look.” From Bando 1961 to LD Capitalist, they tell the stories of some of their most well-known sires and give their outlook for the future challenge in the Angus breed.  

Brothers Tyler and Andy Musgrave are the second generation to raise Angus cattle on their western Illinois farm. Since 1961 Musgrave Angus has been breeding and selecting cattle that work in the fescue grass environment and perform under the stress of a humid climate. Feet, fleshing ability, structure and phenotype set the base for their program. Their parents, Melvin and Cathy Musgrave, started the operation. Today Tyler and his wife, Sarah, and their four sons; and Andy, his wife, Beth, and their three sons each take on their own roles.

SPONSOR: Ingram Angus

At Ingram Angus near Pulaski, Tenn., they have a code for doing business: “Integrity is what we stand by: good quality people who deal with good quality cattle.” Learn more about their program at IngramAngus.com. The whole Ingram crew wants to wish all the juniors “good luck” at their shows this summer. 

RELATED CONTENT: 

New Maternal EPDs Expand Selection Tools for Users of Angus Genetics 

The People Business  

Don't miss news in the Angus breed. Visit www.AngusJournal.net and subscribe to the AJ Daily e-newsletter and our monthly magazine, the Angus Journal.

HOST: Miranda Reiman  

GUESTS: Kurt Kangas and Reese Tuckwiller 

Angus optimism is running high across the country, as strong feeder calf prices fuel record demand for bulls. In this episode, American Angus Association regional managers Kurt Kangas and Reese Tuckwiller share numbers from their sale season and sentiments of breeders in different parts of the United States. They cover everything from useful investments during this economic period to customer service and marketing that will keep programs relevant.

Kurt Kangas works with Angus breeders in Montana, Wyoming and Alaska. He came to the Association in 2012 as regional manager for Arizona, California, Nevada, and Utah before transitioning to his current position for Region 10.

Kangas grew up in the San Joaquin Valley of California. He earned a degree in range sciences from Montana State University before doing range management consulting for ranches in southwestern Montana.  

He then transitioned to working for Basin Angus Ranch in Hobson, Mont., for 10 years and played a role in their marketing, artificial insemination (AI) and calving. 

Reese Tuckwiller has served Angus breeders in the Northeast region as regional manager since 2019.

Tuckwiller grew up on a registered Angus seedstock farm near Lewisburg, W.Va., and is a ninth-generation cattleman. He showed Angus cattle and served on the National Junior Angus Board as vice chairman. He graduated from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln with a bachelor of science in production management and had several herdsman and animal science internships before graduation.

He previously worked for Western Sire Service as production manager and was the West Virginia University livestock judging coach. 

Full list of American Angus Association regional managers

SPONSOR NOTE: Visit your local Vermeer dealer or go to Vermeer.com to learn more. 

Don't miss news in the Angus breed. Visit www.AngusJournal.net and subscribe to the AJ Daily e-newsletter and our monthly magazine, the Angus Journal.

HOSTS: Miranda Reiman and Mark McCully 

GUESTS: Scott and Andrew Foster 

At Seldom Rest Farms the business model is different than many: Angus youth are their main target demographic. Selling Angus show heifers across the United States allowed brothers Scott and Bruce Foster to bring the next generation back to the Michigan farm. Today Scott’s son, Andrew, and his family are active in the day-to-day management of the nationally renowned operation. Phenotype matters, but having an end product is also important. Hear how they balance it all, the reason they’re so invested in the next generation of Angus enthusiasts and why they believe opening their farm gates to beef marketers makes a real difference.  

Scott Foster is a Niles, Mich., native and second generation Angus breeder. He and his siblings grew up on a row crop farm with a small herd of Angus show cattle, which first sparked his interest in the ring. Scott earned a degree in animal husbandry from Michigan State University, married his wife Elaine and raised their children, Andrew and Danielle, with a strong involvement in the National Junior Angus Association. Along with his brother, Bruce, Scott grew Seldom Rest Farm into a nationally recognized program, which has received many honors including 2023 Certified Angus Beef Ambassador of the Year and 2022 Master Breeder of the Year Award at the All-American Angus Breeders’ Futurity show in Louisville.  

Andrew Foster grew up in the National Junior Angus Association, serving as vice chairman of the National Junior Angus Association Board. After earning an animal science degree from Oklahoma State University, he returned to become a partner in Seldom Rest Farms. He was honored as the 2013 Herdsman of the Year and is a well-known cattle judge across the United States. He and his wife, Emily, are raising their three daughters in the lifestyle he grew up in.  

SPONSOR: Deer Valley Farms invites you to their Spring Cow Sale on Saturday, May 10th, at 11 a.m. at the farm near Fayetteville, Tenn.  Several of the donor females have been huge contributors to their program — see what they can do for your herd! For more information, visit https://deervalleyfarm.com/. 

 RELATED CONTENT:   

•  Building Bonds 
• Watch: The Foster Family, Seldom Rest Farms, 2023 Ambassador Awards  

Don't miss news in the Angus breed. Visit www.AngusJournal.net and subscribe to the AJ Daily e-newsletter and our monthly magazine, the Angus Journal.

HOSTS: Miranda Reiman and Mark McCully  

GUESTS: Richard and Kathy Tokach  

Traditions can be a nice foundation for or a barrier to progress, and the key lies in knowing which to keep and which to use as a springboard. In this episode, Richard and Kathy Tokach talk about their return to the family’s fourth-generation North Dakota ranch and about all that’s changed in that time. After four decades of marriage — raising three kids on the operation — they now work alongside the next generation as they look to transitions and the future. They share insights on their breeding philosophy, the evolution of their annual bull sale and the opportunities and challenges facing the Angus breed today. They cover technology, serving on industry boards and advice for young couples starting out in the cattle business.  

GUESTS: Richard and Kathy Tokach own and operate Tokach Angus Ranch, which was homesteaded in 1897 by Richard’s great-grandfather. Their present-day herd still traces back to Richard’s dad’s original purchase of a registered heifer from Lyle Dawson of Oak Coulee Ranch in 1955. Richard graduated from North Dakota State University with a degree in animal science, and Kathy earned a nursing degree from the University of North Dakota. Following graduation they married and made their home on the ranch, raising their children Rebecca, Ben and Renae. They’ve been active in the American Angus Association, the North Dakota Stockmen’s Association, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and various local boards, and recently had their 50th Angus production sale.  

RELATED CONTENT:

True Grit with a Grin 

Tokach Angus Ranch: Seedstock Commitment to Excellence 

Don't miss news in the Angus breed. Visit www.AngusJournal.net and subscribe to the AJ Daily e-newsletter and our monthly magazine, the Angus Journal.

Sometimes you hear history second-hand, and sometimes you get to talk to people who lived it. In this episode, Keith Evans shares a little of both. As a 36-year employee of the American Angus Association public relations department he had a unique vantage for many big changes through the years. He first covers early history from proxy voting to the move to St. Joseph, before switching to changes he observed, such as the incorporation of artificial insemination to the “elephant ads.” Upon retirement from the Association, he authored, “A Historic Angus Journey — The American Angus Association 1883 to 2000.”  

HOSTS: Miranda Reiman and Mark McCully 

GUEST: Keith Evans — writer, marketing expert and Angus promoter — spent 36 years working in the public relations department at the American Angus Association. He came to the Association in 1962 with journalistic experience, which helped him in his quest to provide news that editors wanted to run. He worked his way to director of publication relations and retired in 1998. That’s when he undertook the research and writing of a comprehensive history of the Association, “A Historic Angus Journey — The American Angus Association 1883 to 2000.” 

RELATED CONTENT:  

Purchase “A Historic Angus Journey — The American Angus Association 1883 to 2000.”  

After 35 years with the American Angus Association, Keith Evans retires.

The "elephant ad" highlighted in the Annual Report on page 57 of the December 1984 Angus Journal.

Don't miss news in the Angus breed. Visit www.AngusJournal.net and subscribe to the AJ Daily e-newsletter and our monthly magazine, the Angus Journal.

Genetic innovation in animal agriculture is moving at a faster-than-ever pace, and this episode digs into the history of performance testing while exploring new technologies like computer vision, microbiome analysis and ways to collect more commercial phenotypes. The discussion covers the challenges of more data, including the labor and expense of proposing new traits, along with the opportunities to make big moves in important categories such as health and efficiency. Open-mindedness, collaboration, creativity and standardization will all be needed to make progress. What is the role of the American Angus Association and Angus Genetics Inc. in leading this change? Listen to find out.   

HOSTS: Miranda Reiman and Mark McCully 

GUESTS: John Dickinson and Troy Rowan 

John Dickinson is a fifth-generation Angus breeder and a former National Junior Angus Board (NJAB) chairman. A University of Illinois graduate and former regional manager for the American Angus Association, Dickinson often makes the trek between his cows in California and his home in Idaho. He is also a founding partner in Parnell Dickinson, Inc., a full-service marketing firm that works in all facets of promotion, management and cattle trade — both seedstock and commercial. 

Troy Rowan is an assistant professor of beef cattle genomics at the University of Tennessee– Knoxville. His research work brings together many types of “big data,” both phenotypic and genomic, to understand the genetics of economically relevant traits in beef cattle. He also has a part-time Extension appointment, making all that research applicable to the state’s beef producers.  

Troy grew up on a small Charolais operation in Southwest Iowa and received his undergraduate degree in biology from Creighton University. He earned his doctorate in genetics from the University of Missouri before coming to Tennessee in 2021. 

RELATED CONTENT:  

Exploring Next-Generation Phenotyping that Drives Commercial Profitability 

Don't miss news in the Angus breed. Visit www.AngusJournal.net and subscribe to the AJ Daily e-newsletter and our monthly magazine, the Angus Journal.

Red meat yield has always mattered to the beef industry, but there have only been mediocre tools available to quantify it. This episode covers the surprising history of the subjective measurement before switching to new technology that could completely modernize the system for the better. Every breeder knows the way to drive directional change is to first start with good data, and that’s the goal of a group of ranchers, feeders, packers and academia who are all working together to tackle this issue.  

HOSTS: Miranda Reiman and Mark McCully 

GUESTS:  Blake Foraker, Texas Tech University, and John Stika, Certified Angus Beef 

Blake Foraker is an assistant professor of meat science at Texas Tech University. He grew up in Burrton, Kan., and earned his bachelor’s degree in animal science from Kansas State University and his master’s degree in meat science from Colorado State. He holds a meat science doctorate from Texas Tech and worked at Washington State University before returning to his alma matter. Foraker is a member of the American Society of Animal Science, Intercollegiate Meat Coaches Association, and the American Meat Science Association. He has coached and participated on many nationally acclaimed meats and livestock judging teams and was named Texas Tech’s Department of Animal & Food Science Outstanding Graduate Student in 2022. 

John Stika, president, Certified Angus Beef (CAB), leads the American Angus Association’s consumer-facing subsidiary. The brand is owned by registered Angus breeders and operates to create pull-through demand for Angus cattle. CAB has grown to more than 1.234 billion pounds of sales annually under his leadership. Stika joined CAB in 1999 in what was the feeder-packer relations division, before working in business development and assuming the role of president in 2006. He’s a Kansas farm boy, with degrees in animal and meat science from Kansas State University and the University of Kentucky. 

Don't miss news in the Angus breed. Visit www.AngusJournal.net and subscribe to the AJ Daily e-newsletter and our monthly magazine, the Angus Journal.

The cattle feeding business has not been a smooth ride throughout the years, but Joe Morgan and now his son, Grant, have found ways to ride the waves by putting the needs of their customers first. This episode covers more than four decades of cattle feeding history — the high interest rates of the ’80s, the poor beef demand of the ’90s, and so on. At every junction, Poky Feeders had “page turning” events that allowed them to survive and grow. They'll tell you what they need most from Angus breeders and what kind of cattle they need in their feedyard. Hear from the father-son duo just ahead of Joe’s induction into the Cattle Feeders Hall of Fame.  

HOSTS: Miranda Reiman and Mark McCully 

GUESTS: Joe and Grant Morgan, Poky Feeders 

Joe Morgan farmed and fed cattle after earning an animal science degree from Iowa State University. In 1985, he moved to Garden City to manage Poky Feeders. Its original capacity was 17,000 and under his and now his son, Grant’s, leadership it has grown to 103,000 head.  

Growing up around the feedyard, Grant first chose to pursue other paths for his education before coming back to the feedyard. He took over as manager six years ago and has created an internship program and paths for employee growth along with leading their most recent expansion efforts.  

Joe has served on several committees with the Kansas Livestock Association and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. He was a founding member of U.S. Premium Beef, and he currently serves as vice chairman of their board.  

RELATED CONTENT: 

I AM ANGUS: Poky Feeders 

Big Time Quality 

The Idea that Worked   

Don't miss news in the Angus breed. Visit www.AngusJournal.net and subscribe to the AJ Daily e-newsletter and our monthly magazine, the Angus Journal.

As the breed continues to make progress, the American Angus Association Board of Directors meets quarterly to provide direction on projects that will keep the Angus breed on top. This episode covered a lot of ground, including these topics: 

• Ongoing research in Angus Genetics Inc., from validation studies to ongoing bovine congestive heart failure (BCHF) work  
• Crafting a data recognition program  
• Improvements to the GeneMax® test for commercial Angus females  
• AngusLink℠ success and packer feedback  
• A ribeye area specification adjustment for Certified Angus Beef (CAB)
• Changes to National Junior Angus Show competitions 

HOSTS: Miranda Reiman and Mark McCully 

GUESTS:  Jonathan Perry, chairman of the American Angus Association, has spent much of his life working in the purebred business.  

In 1998, he came to manage the Deer Valley Farm's purebred program in Fayetteville, Tenn. As general manager, Perry developed an Angus program that balances all economically relevant traits in cattle that maintain structural soundness and phenotype. Each year, more than 500 bulls are marketed through three sales. 

Perry and his wife established the Hickory House restaurant in 2014, and it specializes in serving 100% CAB-branded product. 

Roger Wann, Poteau, Okla., was elected to the American Angus Association Board in 2022. He was raised on a multigenerational commercial cow-calf ranch. After the purchase of commercial Angus cows and one Angus bull, the benefits of Angus genetics became clear. After graduating from OSU, he earned a master’s in physiology of reproduction from Texas A&M and began a career with ABS Global, where he helped cattle producers learn the value of efficient reproductive management programs. Wann Ranch hosts an annual production sale.

He served on the board for the Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association and Oklahoma Angus Association and has helped develop its Angus feeder-calf sale.  

John Stika, CAB president, leads the American Angus Association’s consumer-facing subsidiary. The brand that is owned by registered Angus breeders and operates to create pull-through demand for Angus cattle has grown to more than 1.234 billion pounds of sales annually under his leadership. He joined CAB in 1999 in feeder-packer relations division, before working in business development and assuming the role of president in 2006. He’s a Kansas farm boy, with degrees in animal and meat science from Kansas State University and the University of Kentucky. 
 

RELATED READING: 

Close, But No Certification 

Angus Releases New Teat and Udder Research EPDs 

Angus Releases Cow Longevity Prediction 

AGI White Paper Looks at Future of Phenotyping, Commercial Data 

Producers to be Paid Grid Premiums for AngusLink Beef Scores 

Don't miss news in the Angus breed. Visit www.AngusJournal.net and subscribe to the AJ Daily e-newsletter and our monthly magazine, the Angus Journal.