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Election Results

Delegates to Annual Convention elect directors, leadership for coming year.

by Carrie Heitman, American Angus Association, & Shauna Rose Hermel

Members elected new leadership and five directors to the American Angus Association Board during the 129th Annual Convention of Delegates Monday, Nov. 12, during Angus events at the North American International Livestock Exposition (NAILE) in Louisville, Ky. Chosen by their peers in an election process that began in March, the 311 delegates hailed from 41 states, Canada and the District of Columbia.

Newly elected officers to the American Angus Association include (from left) Cathy Watkins, Middletown, Ind., treasurer; Philip Trowbridge, Ghent, N.Y., president and chairman of the Board; and Gordon Stucky, Kingman, Kan., vice president and vice chairman of the Board.

New leadership

Phil Trowbridge, Ghent, N.Y., was elected president and chairman of the Board, succeeding Jarold Callahan of Edmond, Okla. Trowbridge most recently served as vice president and vice chairman of the Board. He received his animal science degree from Alfred Sate College prior to becoming herdsman at Gallagher’s Angus Farm, owned by restaurateur Jerome “Jerry” Brody. Now, more than 30 years later, Trowbridge and his family own and operate their own family Angus operation, Trowbridge Angus Farms. Trowbridge has served on numerous boards on the local and state level and organized the Columbia County Feeders 4-H club.

Gordon Stucky, Kingman, Kan., was elected vice president and vice chairman of the Board. Formerly Board treasurer, Stucky and his family own Stucky Ranch, west of Wichita, Kan. He is past director and president of the Kansas Angus Association, and is chairman of its commercial female sale. He has also been active in the Beef Improvement Federation, his local extension council, the Kansas Farm Bureau and the Kansas Livestock Association.

Cathy Watkins, Middletown, Ind., will serve as treasurer, a position filled by the Board of Directors. Watkins and her husband, Bob, raise Angus cattle at Beaver Ridge Farm in east-central Indiana. She graduated with high honors from Michigan State University with a degree in animal science. While there, she was a member of the meat judging and livestock judging teams. Off the farm, Watkins worked for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for 33 years, retiring in 2007. She served as secretary for the Indiana Angus Association for 10 years.

Directors elected

From a field of 10 candidates in an election process that required six ballots, delegates elected incumbents Charlie Boyd II, Mayslick, Ky.; Scott Foster, Niles, Mich.; and Vaughn Meyer, Reva, S.D., to their second three-year terms on the Board. Delegates elected Philip Howell, Winchester, Ind.; and Don Schiefelbein, Kimball, Minn., to serve their first three-year terms.

Boyd is a fourth-generation cattleman from a family that began its involvement in the cattle industry in 1893. Today, Boyd Beef Cattle of Mayslick, Ky., encompasses both an Angus and a Hereford program, and is home to many national champions. Boyd earned his ag economics degree from the University of Kentucky, where he was a member of Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity, an agriculture senator, the agriculture student body president and a member of the livestock judging team. He has been involved in many cattlemen’s organizations, and has served as president of the Kentucky Angus Association, as well as a co-chair for the National Junior Angus Show (NJAS).

Foster grew up on a family farm in Niles, Mich., where he was active in FFA, serving as state president. He earned a bachelor’s degree in animal husbandry from Michigan State University, where he participated in the Block & Bridle club and was the Ag Senate representative. He was also a member of the National Champion Livestock Judging team at the NAILE, where he was named high individual. Upon graduation, Foster worked for Premier Beef in Howell, Mich. Today, he farms with son Andrew, brother Bruce and his parents at Seldom Rest Farms in southwestern Michigan.

Howell attended Purdue University and graduated as a doctor of veterinary medicine in 1973. After graduation, Howell worked in mixed animal practices in Cedar Grove, Wis., and Silver Lake, Ind. He purchased a practice in Winchester, Ind., in June 1979. Howell and his son Andy and their wives currently manage 50 cows, the majority being registered Angus with a few Maine-Anjou females. He has served as president of the Indiana Junior Angus Association Indiana Angus Association, and the Southeastern Indiana Angus Association.

Meyer and his family manage Sodak Angus Ranch in northwest South Dakota. In his youth Meyer participated in 4-H and FFA. He received a bachelor’s degree in animal science from South Dakota State University, where he was active in Block & Bridle and Army ROTC. After serving in the Army, Meyer returned to Sodak. He has been active in the Black Hills Angus Association, the Perkins County Livestock Improvement Association, the Perkins County Farmers Union, the South Dakota Beef Industry Council and the South Dakota Stock Growers Association.

Schiefelbein has been involved in the cattle business in a number of ways throughout his career. He attended college at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, where he graduated with academic honors with a degree in animal science. In 1990, the North American Limousin Foundation (NALF) hired Schiefelbein to oversee its junior program. Later he would serve as executive director for the American Gelbvieh Association. Schiefelbein was able to fulfill his lifelong dream in 2002, returning to his family Angus farm in Kimball, Minn.

Annual reports

The Annual Convention included a financial report by 2012 Treasurer Gordon Stucky and a year-end report by Executive Vice President Bryce Schumann. Many of their highlights are presented in the annual reports of the American Angus Association and the Angus Foundation. The Angus Foundation Annual Report was distributed with the December 2012 Angus Journal. The American Angus Association Annual Report was distributed to delegates at the Annual Convention and is available online at www.angus.org (see link in the right column) or by request (call 1-816-383-5100).

Invitation to New Zealand for 2013

Tim Brittain, chairman of the organizing committee, invited Angus members to attend the PGG Wrightson World Angus Forum 2013 in New Zealand. Activities begin Oct. 6-12 with a tour of the South Island of New Zealand. The pre-tour will include visits to some of New Zealand’s signature Angus stud properties and famous tourism locations, including Mount Cook and Queenstown.

The forum will be Oct. 13-17 at the Energy Events Centre in Rotorua. It will feature leaders sharing the latest innovations in Angus breeding and the future direction for the industry worldwide. Participants will help celebrate the 150th anniversary of the introduction of Angus cattle to New Zealand. A world youth program is planned, a field trip and a memorable social program.

The Forum organizing committee is putting youth at the forefront of this event via a youth team competition running alongside the Forum. The youth program competition will comprise five sections: general knowledge, parading, stock judging, animal preparation and agri-sports. Organizers invite countries to send one or more teams to compete for a major prize of NZ$10,000.

Two post-conference tours of the North Island are planned for Oct. 17-Oct. 21. One will be a tour of Gisborne and the Waikato. The second will be a “Youth Angus Adrenaline Tour.”

For more information about the forum, visit the forum website at www.worldangus.com and Facebook page at www.facebook.com/worldangusforum.

Other activities

Read more about Angus activities at the NAILE in the January Angus Journal or online at www.angus.org.

 

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