Julie Mais:
Strong demand for quality and a diverse membership leads Jim Brinkley, newly elected president of the American Angus Association Board of Directors to be optimistic about what's ahead. This is Julie Mais with the Angus Journal, and I sat down with the Milan, Missouri, Angus breeder to preview opportunities in 2026. Jim, we just wrapped up a great convention here in Kansas City and the Annual Convention of Delegates here this morning. What's been some of the general feeling among the membership and what are some of the conversations you've had over the past few days?

Jim Brinkley:

Sure. The membership's very optimistic. I mean, bull sales has been phenomenal. They're just excited. It is a fun time to be in the Angus business, and membership is truly optimistic and we sold more bulls last year for quite a bit more money, and I don't have that figure, but several thousand or a few thousand more.

Julie Mais:
We are in a historic market here in the cattle business right now, which has been a topic of this convention. Randy Blach was here from CattleFax to give an update and a report on that. What's top of mind for Angus breeders in this current market?

Jim Brinkley:
Like I said, they're very optimistic about the market, but down the road it looks good for at least a few years down the road and maybe longer. Membership had a little bit of a setback with the markets. The president said that he's going to try to get beef lowered and that has, I mean, it's been effective so far according to the board, which in return has created a little bit of unrest with lenders. Some of those guys that are wanting to expand a little bit and maybe they're not going to expand as much as what they first thought, maybe maintain or just add a few instead of maybe add 10 or 12 or 15%. So I think that alone with him saying that we're going to get beef prices lower, I think that was cast some unsure attitude out there. One other thing that I heard Randy Blach say that he give kudos to Angus breeders, high praise for them bringing this market, the quality of the cattle from what it was to what it is, the demand for the product is quality driven. As we all know, breeders have done a tremendous job of using the tools that the American Angus Association has provided them, and they've done a great job in increasing carcass quality.

Julie Mais:
What are some of the things that the current board has worked on that you're most proud of?
Jim Brinkley:

Well, I think I've been here seven years, starting my eighth, I believe, and AngusLink would have to be one of the tops. Whenever I ran the very first time. I know in several of the caucuses that was very controversial and they wanted to know how we was going to make it work. And I mean, I got asked that probably three times in three different caucuses, and all I could tell 'em is I don't know. I mean, I assured them that I would give every effort to make it work. The board and staff has done a great job of making that program work. It's been a huge benefit for our commercial customers that have adopted the Angus Link. So the premiums is, I mean, over the last few years is, I mean, it's added up to close to $20 a hundred on those feeder calves. So that's a big shot in the checkbook for our commercial guys, and it's a tool that the American Angus Association provides that our commercial guys can utilize it, and the industry is starting to endorse it. It's a real endorsement in my eyes when the packer starts offering a premium and it's a huge endorsement. So that program we feel like is up and running and well on its way to, I'm not going to say to a CAB equivalent, but I think that program will work very well in conjunction with Certified Angus Beef.
Julie Mais:

You're just newly elected as president, chairman of the board of the American Incas Association. What do you see as some of the things you'll be talking about in this upcoming year?
Jim Brinkley:

Well, certainly one of the things that we'll be continue to talk about to a GI think we're not going to push the clutch in and we're going to make sound decisions. We're going to adopt technology that'll help our purebred and commercial customers be more successful. And I think that would be one of the true top topics. And of course, Angus Link there again, I mean you can't talk about it enough and it helps so many. I mean, real close to a million enrolled since the inception and it's growing every day. Something else that was very exciting was registrations had the best for October that we've had in many, many years, and that's very optimistic. It kind of sends a signal that our breeders are certainly looking to register more cattle. There's more value in a registered Angus bull than just a non-paper Black Bull, as we all know. And whenever you try to get into an Angus Link program, they've got to be out of registered bulls. And I know that there's been some people that's tried to get in that wasn't all registered and are mostly registered, and it's definitely driven the value of the registration paper.

Julie Mais:
The board recently approved the long range objectives. You guys took a look at that. You do that every few years, and that was based on the membership survey and feedback. How important are those long range objectives and driving the direction of the association? What role do those play? 

Jim Brinkley:
Think very important. If you don't, as a business person, if you don't know where you're going, you don't know when you've got there or where you're at. Even so with the membership survey we had, JP and myself and Daryl and Mark had had a panel this morning that asked several of the questions that was on that survey, and it was great to see because those questions we asked just pretty much echoed the survey that you had done in the journal. Memberships got requests, and we want to make sure we're aligned with what they need, the tools they need and their commercial people customers need. So we're going, we'll pay very close attention to the long range plan.

Julie Mais:
What were one or two things that stood out to you from either the membership survey that was completed over the summer or from this morning session?

Jim Brinkley:
So probably the thing that stood out the most to me or one of the things would've been how long members had been a member of the American Angus Association, and there's, I want to say, if I recall correctly, 20 some percent of those members have only been a member less than five years. And that's encouraging to me that we've got young people or new people coming into the breed, very encouraging, and we didn't do an age survey, but hopefully some of those, or a lot of those are young ranchers.

Julie Mais:
Yeah, we hear a lot about how there's diversity and room for all types of members and memberships here in the association. Is there anything else you'd like to add or anything else you'd like for the membership to know?

Jim Brinkley:
First of all, I'd want membership to know that, I mean, I'm accessible. Any of the board members are accessible. Please reach out to us. I mean, if you have any questions, concerns, if we can help in any way. I still say that our market share's growing. I mean, we have close to 80% market share, and I mean, it's evident in the number of registered bulls sold. We was up two, 3000, if I recall correctly, two to 3000 bulls throughout the year on bull sales, and of course the price was up quite a bit also. But that's an indicating signal to me that we're gaining on market share and for our members to be successful. That's certainly a positive sign for us as board members.

Julie Mais:
Well, thank you for your time and looking forward to what this next year brings.

Jim Brinkley:
Thank you. Appreciate it.

Julie Mais:
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