“Someday we’ll have televisions so thin and so light you can hang them on a wall,” Mrs. Jones shared to my fourth-grade class, information she had recently read in a magazine.

“Impossible,” I thought. It sounded like something out of The Jetsons.

At that time, in my not-too-distant memory, I was sitting on the living room floor in front of the TV and taking orders from my dad to change the channel or volume using the buttons on the side panel — we didn’t have a remote.

Replacing that a few years later in the early ’90s was the big screen TV my parents won in a drawing. It was exciting to have, but it took up the space of a midsized cabinet and was very different from the sleek ones like what my teacher described. 

Today, my husband and I have a few TVs in our home, all are about an inch thick and all are hanging on the wall. Affordable and common. And if we can’t find the remote, we just hop on our smartphones to the Roku app and change the channel from the comfort of our couch. 

Innovation isn’t just about the new technology. It’s also the mindset shift from asking “What if?” to “Why not?”

Trailblazers

The Angus breed’s success today is built on curiosity and a willingness to try something new. We see that in the breed’s history from George Grant bringing the first Angus bulls from Scotland to the United States in 1873, to the development of Certified Angus Beef in 1978 and the tough decisions made by leaders to support the program in early years. 

The spirit of progress didn’t stop with those milestones. Angus-influenced cattle now make up three-quarters of the nation’s cow herd, and Angus is also leading the industry in genetic tools, marketing, research and junior programs.

In 2026, we see trailblazers at every level ­­— it doesn’t just happen in tech companies or in labs. Every day Angus breeders are making decisions on what will propel their operation forward, what tools work for them and what tools they need. 

In this issue of the Angus Journal, we cover some of the latest technologies and hear from Angus breeders on what works for them and where they see some room for improvement. 

The pace of progress shows no signs of slowing, whether in our living rooms or in our pastures. But the wonder of watching something once unimaginable become ordinary never gets old. 

Angus breeders remain at the forefront, not just adopting new tools, but shaping what comes next.