Walking past the set of stalls serving as the American Angus Association’s booth in Oklahoma City, Craig Sand stopped to study the banner displaying him as one of four nominees for the Angus Herdsman of the Year. In the row of portraits, he found a slight difference. 

“I was happy to be nominated … but I felt like I might have about 20-plus years of doing this on them all,” he laughs. “I was kind of the old man in the room in terms of that.”

While there’s experience to make that title seem like a leg up, Sand can name some challenges that come with it, too. 

“I’m getting older, and this is a young man’s game,” he admits, noting that he can’t tackle fitting a string of 15 on show day with quite the same energy he might have when he was first starting in the business 27 years ago. 

But if there’s one thing Sand prides himself on, it’s his determination. Through the decades, that’s never wavered. 

“To me, it’s about the presentation of everything — your stall, your cattle, being cordial to people,” he explains. “Because at the end of the day, we’re all trying to make a living on this.”   

It’s that sense of drive that keeps Sand going in this business. 

“I like to be relentless in terms of just keeping them looking right or having them presented for a sale offering,” he adds. “I’ve got probably an undesirable amount of pride in terms of wanting my stuff to always look good for people.”

That’s likely why Sand says he resonated so much with what Association CEO Mark McCully said during the Herdsman Social at Cattlemen’s Congress: being a cattleman isn’t always just about how well you do at a show. 

When his peers look at Sand, they see an individual with passion, with experience, relentless in his pursuit of excellence — all qualities that helped them vote for Sand to be named the 2026 Angus Herdsman of the Year. 

“It’s a very humbling experience, and I’m just fortunate enough to be in that group and call them fellow breeders and fellow herdsmen,” Sand says of the honor. “It just really makes you feel good, and you think, ‘Man, the work’s kind of finally paid off.’” 

To never waver 

Today he might hold a buckle from the Angus breed, but Sand grew up on a Limousin cow-calf operation in Wisconsin. It was his stepfather’s breed of choice, and Sand inherited it, growing up showing steers and heifers. 

“I knew the heifer thing was kind of where I wanted to be,” he recalls. “I love the cattle; I love being involved with it. It’s challenging.” 

He labels 1999 as the year he started his individual career in the business, when he chose to bypass the engineering degree he earned for the title of herdsman. 

Connections through mentors like Bob May and Shane Lindsay helped put him in front of a job working with show and sale cattle at Carousel Farms. Sand admits he almost didn’t apply, but Jessica, his girlfriend at the time, encouraged him to take a chance. 

That was the start of an impressive résumé Sand’s been building ever since. Sand started his family in that time, too, marrying Jessica in 2001. Together they have two boys, Colton (24) and Coy (18).

It was 2008 when Sand found The Business Breed after moving to Oklahoma working for Limestone LLC. 

Summer of 2024, Sand hit another milestone in his life: joining the team at Circle M Farms. 

“It’s a good mold, I think,” Sand says of the way he’s fit into the program. “I think we’ve got a long road ahead to where we want to be, but I think we can accomplish it. I feel like this is … where my heart’s at.”  

A lot of that comes from his employers. 

“I would say anybody that doesn’t know Craig McCallum needs to get to know him,” Sand explains “I’m not saying I haven’t had some great bosses over the years, but Craig is in a league of his own in terms of caring about you … and he understands the game.” 

As the owner of Circle M, McCallum knows the kind of cattle that qualify for the description of “elite” and puts in the work to make sure those are the kind of cattle he’s raising. 

But McCallum is just one half of the equation. Chan Phillips, manager, is someone else Sand easily connects with. 

“Chan is very good at taking care of the cattle,” Sand adds. “He’s good with people. He’s good to be around.” 

The work environment is one he also gets to share with his oldest son. Both boys have enjoyed the agriculture industry since they started rodeoing as children, but Colton came on to the team at Circle M just a little after Sand accepted the position as herdsman. 

“He’s like me with his equipment. He wants it a certain way and to look a certain way,” Sand admits on a laugh. “I guess maybe that DNA has bled through on him a little bit in that regard, but it’s fun. It gives you joy that you actually get to work with your son.” 

Most important about working at Circle M, however? Sand says the people there share his competitive spirit. While it’s not always about bringing home the banner, the entire Circle M team knows it is about making sure everyone else in the ring had to work hard to beat them. 

In short: Sand’s found people who are just as relentless as he is in the pursuit of excellence.