June 1, 2017

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For more information contact:

Jena McRell, digital editor, 816-383-5100 or jmcrell@angus.media

VIDEO: I Am Angus feature with James Rentz

Ohio Family Recognized for Historic Angus Herd

Creek Side Farm has raised registered Angus cattle for 50-plus years.

James Rentz of Creek Side Farm in Coldwater, Ohio, is well known in the industry for his 65 years of dedication raising high-quality Angus cattle and making monumental impacts within the breed and its Association.

The American Angus Association is proud to recognize Rentz as a recipient of the Historic Angus Herd award as a way to showcase his commitment to the Angus breed. This award is presented to active Angus breeders and immediate family members who have been in continuous production of registered Angus cattle for 50 or more years.

Since joining the American Angus Association in 1953, Creek Side Farm has participated in shows and sales at the local, state and national level. Rentz and his wife, Judy, have three children who were active in the Ohio Junior Angus Association and successfully exhibited cattle at several National Junior Angus Shows (NJAS). He and his family have bred and exhibited multiple winners and sale topper cattle throughout the years. They were the first family to be named All-American Futurity Champion Udder Cow in 1984. Rentz also has the only Angus herd to breed and exhibit back-to-back champion carcass steers at the NJAS in 1985 and 1986.

In addition to their involvement in the Angus show circuit, Rentz has held several leadership positions at the state and national level within the Association. He served as the publicity chairman and announcer during the 1984 NJAS. He was the 2001 to 2002 president of the Ohio Angus Association and a board member for more than 25 years.

For nine years Rentz served on the Ohio Beef Council and is a former treasurer of the Ohio Cattlemen’s Association. For five years he served as the president of the Mercer County Cattlemen’s Association. Rentz was also a director of the American Angus Association for two terms and served on the national board for six years.

This is not the first award Rentz has received to recognize his commitment to the Angus breed. The Rentz family was the recipient of the 1994 Ohio Angus Family of the Year. The Mercer County Cattlemen’s Association named him the 1999 Mercer County Cattleman of the Year. In 2013, he was inducted into the American Angus Association’s Angus Heritage Foundation. For 14 years he served as a fieldman throughout the Midwest for the Angus Journal^®.

Over the years he has had a hand in establishing a number of successful businesses and events. He founded the Rentz Auction Co. in 1973, which specializes in Angus sales management and auctioneering throughout the U.S. and Canada; the well-established Showcase Sale; and was a co-founder of the Ohio Beef Expo and served as chairman and manager for its first five years.

A few years ago Rentz wrote the book titled 50+ Years of Angus Trails and Tales, which highlights the dynamics of the Angus industry and how it was shaped into what it is today. The book was introduced in Louisville in 2006 and has been sold in more than 40 states and in Canada.

Visit www.angus.org for more information on the Historic Angus Herd Award and to view a list of awarded members since the program began in 1988.

— Written by Morgan Marley, Angus Media

ANGUS MEANS BUSINESS. The American Angus Association^® is the nation’s largest beef breed organization, serving nearly 25,000 members across the United States and Canada. It provides programs and services to farmers, ranchers and others who rely on the power of Angus to produce quality genetics for the beef industry and quality beef for consumers.

For more information about Angus cattle and the American Angus Association’s programs and services, visit www.angus.org.

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