Board Recap: Digging in on Fertility Research, Expanding CAB Production, Enhancing Member Services

How is the Association sitting financially at the end of the fiscal year? Do age of dam adjustments distort the genetic evaluation? How does Angus Media handle long-outstanding accounts receivable? How different are the $Weaned Calf Value ($W) and $Maternal Weaned Calf Value indexes?

When the American Angus Association Board of Directors met this week, these questions (and many more) were discussed. From DNA sample policies to new advertising products, the Board covered the gamut of Association business. This recap episode captures some of the conversations that breeders have out in the country and how those are then brought to the board room.

There were successes to report: AngusLinkSM numbers are up 86%, the Certified Angus Beef ® (CAB ®) brand acceptance rates climbed even during times of tight supplies, the Beef Academy and a new Angus.org launched and much more.   

HOSTS: Mark McCully and Miranda Reiman 

GUESTS: Charles Mogck, Olivet, S.D., is a third-generation Angus breeder and serving a second term on the Board. He has built upon his family’s heritage in the breed, increasing their herd to 400 registered females.

Mogck began his career as a loan officer after attending South Dakota State University, but eventually he found himself working on the farm full-time. Today, Mogck & Sons Angus markets 120 bulls and 50 females annually. They farm 2,000 acres of corn, beans and wheat with an additional 2,500 acres of pasture and hay ground. They also routinely buy feeder cattle from their commercial customers, allowing them to collect data on their customers’ cattle. Mogck records ultrasound, carcass and genomic information to help them make the best decisions they can for the future of their herd.

Barry Pollard, Enid, Okla., currently serves as the chairman of the American Angus Association Board of Directors. He attended Oklahoma State University (OSU), followed by medical school and serving as neurosurgeon, performing than 18,000 surgeries prior to his retirement.

In addition to other agriculture business ventures, Pollard has built his Pollard Farms registered Angus operation to 400 Angus cows, selling around 150 bulls each year.

Darrell Stevenson, White Sulphur Spring, Mont., is serving his second term on the Board. Stevenson holds strong ties to the Angus breed and a history of activity in the Montana Angus Association. He continues his family’s legacy by operating Stevenson Angus Ranch.

He is actively involved in international Angus events. In 2010, Stevenson created a partnership with two Russian businessmen to form an international beef venture between the two countries. Due to its success, Stevenson has since overseen shipments of Angus cattle to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.

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.

Visit the Member Center on angus.org for the full president’s letter or watch for in-depth articles on many of these topics in upcoming editions of the Angus Journal. 

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