Nov. 20, 2013

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

For more information contact:

Carrie Heitman, communications coordinator, at 816-383-5100 or cheitman@angus.org.

 

PHOTOS:  Available upon request from prphotos@angus.org.

ONLINE:  2013 NAILE showring coverage | American Angus AssociationÕs FY13 Annual Report


Angus Elects New Board Members and Officers
The American Angus Associated hosts its 130th Annual Meeting of Delegates in Louisville, Ky.

            The American Angus Association¨ announced new members and officers for its Board of Directors during the 130th Annual Meeting of Delegates in Louisville, Ky. Those serving the Association for three-year terms are:  Thomas Burke, Smithville, Mo.; John Elbert Harrell, Opelika, Ala.; Leo McDonnell, Billings, Mont.; John Pfeiffer, Mulhall, Okla.; and Kevin Yon, Ride Spring, S.C. Harrell, McDonnell, Pfeiffer and Yon are serving their second term on the Board.

            Gordon Stucky, Kingman, Kan., was elected as the new Association president and Board of Directors chairman. He succeeds Phil Trowbridge, Ghent, N.Y. Cathy Watkins, Middletown, Ind., was chosen by delegates to serve as Association vice president and Board of Directors vice chairman. Jim Sitz, Dillon, Mont., will serve as the 2013-2014 treasurer.

            A total of 311 elected delegates from 42 states and Canada represented Association members during the Annual Meeting of Delegates, held at the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center (KFEC) in conjunction with the North American International Livestock Exposition (NAILE) Super-Point Roll of Victory (ROV) Angus Show.

 

2013-2014 American Angus Association Officers

            As the AssociationÕs newly elected president and chairman, Gordon Stucky will help guide the course for the business breed and its more than 25,000 members across the United States and Canada. Most recently, Stucky served as vice president and vice chairman of the board. He and his family own Stucky Ranch, west of Wichita, Kan.

StuckyÕs roots in Kingman County trace back to 1937, when his parents established a diversified crop and livestock operation. Stucky began the transition to a registered Angus cattle herd in 1976. After graduating from Kansas State University with an animal science degree, he returned to the ranch to fulfill his lifelong commitment to the Angus breed.

Stucky has four children:  Jesse, Jacob, Elizabeth and Jonas.

Cathy Watkins, the incoming Association vice president and Board of Directors vice chairman, has been a dedicated leader for the Angus breed for several years, including serving as Association treasurer in 2012-2013.

Watkins and her husband, Bob, raise Angus cattle at Beaver Ridge Farm in east central Indiana. They also work with Schaff Angus Valley in St. Anthony, N.D., which is one of the oldest on-going Angus herds in North America. Watkins divides her time between both operations in Indiana and North Dakota.

A graduate from Michigan State University, she has a degree in animal science. While there, she was a member of the meat judging team and the livestock judging team. Off the farm, Watkins worked for the Internal Revenue Service for 33 years, retiring in 2007.

Jim Sitz, who manages and operates Sitz Angus Ranch in Dillon, Mont., will serve as the next Association board treasurer. The Sitz Angus Ranch was started in 1928 by Will and Frieda Sitz, JimÕs grandparents.

Sitz Angus Ranch has since grown and has become known as one of the top sources of Angus genetics in the country. A graduate from Brigham Young University-Rexburg in Idaho, Sitz holds a degree in business and agricultural management. He has served on the Montana Angus Association and the Montana Beef Council for the Montana Stockgrowers Association.

Sitz, and his wife, Tammi have four children: Amber, Ashley, Tyler and Tucker.

 

2013-2014 American Angus Association Board Members

Thomas Burke, Smithville, Mo., is a fourth-generation cattleman who has conducted registered Angus sales across the United States, Canada and the Caribbean through his work at the American Angus Hall of Fame. He owns the Burke Farm, homesteaded 125 years ago in southeastern Minnesota.

Burke has served on boards of the Missouri Angus Association (MAA) and Atlantic National as well as chairman of the All-American Angus BreedersÕ.

John Elbert Harrell, Opelika, Ala., has 44 years experience breeding and marketing Angus cattle. He and his partner, Mitch Lazenby, own and operate Highlander Ranch, where they raise 100-plus registered-Angus females and develop 150 bulls each year.

Harrell is a director and past president of the Alabama Angus Association, and he and his wife, Ann, are strong supporters of junior Angus members. They have two children.

Leo McDonnell, Billings, Mont., is a fourth-generation rancher, raised around both feedlot and cow-calf operations. He and his wife, Sam, live near Columbus, Mont., and have four children (Steve, Darcey, Kelsey and Buffy) and 10 grandchildren.

McDonnell has been involved in several industry groups, being a past chair of the Montana Cattle Feeders; a delegate in the mid-1990s for Montana on the NCBA International Trade Committee and the Research and Education Committee; a co-founder for the Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America; and currently a director of the U.S. CattlemenÕs Association and CattlemenÕs Beef Board.

John Pfeiffer, Mulhall, Okla., and his wife, Gaye, have been married 32 years and have two sons. The family operates a diversified farming operation consisting of 2,200 acres of crops and pasture. Much of the wheat, alfalfa and corn go directly toward the 140 registered- and 75 commercial-Angus cows.

Pfeiffer has been president of the Oklahoma Angus Association, a member of the first Oklahoma Ag Leadership Program, a director for the Oklahoma CattlemenÕs Association, and president of the Logan County CattlemenÕs Association.

Kevin Yon, Ridge Spring, S.C., and his wife, Lydia, established Yon Family Farms in 1996, and the operation is now home to 700 head of Angus brood cows and 300 commercial cows.

Yon has served as president of the South Carolina Angus Association and South Carolina CattlemenÕs Association, and as chairman of the South Carolina Farm Bureau Beef Advisory Committee, among other positions.

He and Lydia have three children: Sally, Drake and Corbin, who are active in the NJAA.

 

Board member biographies are courtesy of the Angus Journal. Committee assignments and more information from the AssociationÕs 130th Annual Meeting can be found online at www.ANGUS.org.

ANGUS MEANS BUSINESS. The American Angus Association is the nationÕs largest beef breed organization, serving more than 25,000 members across the United States, Canada and several other countries. ItÕs 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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