April 10, 2018

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For more information contact:

Clint Mefford, director of communications

816-383-5143

cmefford@angus.org

Sankey Family Selected as 2018 U.S. Livestock Industry Leaders of the Year

Kansas Angus ranchers honored at National Western Stock Show for prestigious award.

Chris and Sharee Sankey, prominent Angus breeders of Sankey’s 6N Ranch in Council Grove, Kansas, were selected as the 2018 U.S. Livestock Industry Leaders of the Year. Their progressive role in western ranching and the Angus breed is a testament to what can be accomplished with persistence and determination.

 “The Sankeys were selected because they really represent the backbone of the American cattle industry,” said Dan Green, publisher and National Western Stock Show historian. “They operate their ranch themselves on a day-to-day basis, and we are proud of that.”

The U.S. Livestock Industry Leader of the Year award was founded in 1946 by H.E. Green, publisher of the Record Stockman Livestock Newspaper, and has been awarded during the National Western Stock Show every year since.

“It was a big surprise for us to be selected as the 2018 U.S. Livestock Industry Leaders of the Year,” Chris said. “Our family is extremely honored and a little bit in shock that we would be selected for this award. The National Western is the biggest deal we have in the cattle industry, so to receive the award here means a tremendous amount to us.”

Heritage and history with the National Western Stock Show is really deep in the Sankey family with Chris and Sharee meeting there and both their children also meeting their spouses at the show.

“My parents have spent a lifetime chasing a dream and working hard to achieve their goals,” said Cody Sankey, Chris and Sharee’s son. “For them to be selected to receive this award is a huge honor for them.”

6N Ranch was established in the early 1960s by Elliott and Helena Norquist. They developed it into a purebred cow-calf operation with more than 2,000 acres of Flint Hills and lakeside pastures. The Sankey family leased the ranch in the fall of 1983 to begin their own Angus program. 

The Sankeys purchased the headquarters and part of 6N Ranch in the early 1990s and were able to name it Sankey's 6N Ranch. The Sankey family has deep roots in agriculture and the Angus breed with more than 110 years of involvement in the industry. Through their AI program, they have been able to produce cattle that both survive primarily on grass in the Flint Hills and are succesful in the showring. Using key AI bulls, they were able to produce an American Angus Association Show Bull of the Year, Sankey's Lazer 609 of 6N, in 2008, and many of their females have been succesful showing on a national level. 

— Written by Rachel Robinson, Angus Communications

ANGUS MEANS BUSINESS. The American Angus Association^® is the nation’s largest beef breed organization, serving more than 25,000 members across the United States, Canada and several other countries. It’s home to an extensive breed registry that grows by nearly 300,000 animals each year. The Association also provides programs and services to farmers, ranchers and others who rely on 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, visit www.angus.org.

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