“I saw that there were roughly 45 other states, but there was no junior Angus chapter in New Jersey.”

It’s a small detail, but one that McKinley Lucas wasn’t comfortable just accepting. 

When enrolling in the National Junior Angus Association (NJAA) in 2022, the New Jersey native and first-generation Angus producer saw a problem and an opportunity all in one. Her home state is small, she admits, but there’s still plenty of cattle people there. Lucas wanted the state’s Angus youth to have the same opportunities for leadership, education and connection as their peers across the country.

“So I thought, ‘We should get something started here, to create opportunities for other people,’” she says.

And that’s exactly what she did.

Getting started

Lucas reached out to Lydia Kilinski, a friend and fellow Angus showman in the state, to see if she would be interested in helping get a New Jersey Junior Angus Association off the ground. 

Kilinski recalls the moment, saying, “Last summer we were at our state fair … and she [Lucas] came to me and was like, ‘Hey, I don’t really know a lot of people that have Angus in the state, but I was wondering if you would be interested in starting a junior Angus association to bring the few of us that are in New Jersey showing closer together.”

Kilinski said she was in, and together, the two girls started the process of figuring out what it would take to establish a state junior association. 

Lucas contacted Jordyn Shockley, an NJAA events coordinator with the American Angus Association, asking what needed to happen behind thescenes to make sure the new junior association was compliant with all existing rules. 

Shockley shared that they needed to develop bylaws, find an advisor, establish an officer team and more.

“She was just so helpful in getting it started, walking me through the process, giving me all the resources and information that we needed to get it up and running,” Lucas says.

Kilinski agrees, saying the process was made much easier by the help of the folks at the Association office. 

“[Jordyn] gave us very in-depth, step by step [information], how we had to get our bylaws together and then come up with a committee or an officer team,” she explains.

Using the bylaws of Maryland, North Carolina and Nebraska as a guide, Lucas and Kilinski developed a framework for the brand-new New Jersey Junior Angus Association. Howard Hoffman, Kilinski’s boss, agreed to be their advisor, bringing years of cattle industry and organizational experience. 

Next, the pair began recruiting members and assembling an officer team. Their first interest meeting was hosted virtually so youth from across the state could participate. The response was encouraging: about 17 juniors joined.

Kilinski says, “We had a pretty good turnout and a lot of interest.”

Lucas and Kilinski are serving as the organization’s president and vice president, respectively, alongside a membership director, secretary, treasurer and communications director.

Why they do it

Establishing the organization from scratch came with plenty of paperwork and planning, but both Lucas and Kilinski say the real goal was never about bylaws or bank accounts.

It was about people.

Lucas didn’t grow up on a farm herself, so she says it’s been helpful to have mentors to encourage her development. 

“I really didn’t start showing until I was 12, and that was just at the local county level,” she explains. “When I first met Howard Hoffman and Lydia, they were huge mentors to me. They have always been helpful in getting me to be a better Angus breeder and a better showman.”

She wants the New Jersey Junior Angus Association to create that same sense of belonging for others. 

“I knew the Angus breed was for me because I found a community that was so helpful and supportive. It stretched as far as 1,100 miles away to the former president of the Kansas Angus Association, Clint Woodrow, who generously gave countless hours answering questions, providing encouragement and offering advice,” she says.

For Kilinski, it’s about opportunities, too. She grew up as the fifth generation on her family’s vegetable farm, but the only livestock they had around were horses. As she got older, she had the chance to join a beef club in her county. Showing a commercial female from her uncle’s farm, Kilinski caught the cattle bug quickly. 

Her favorite part of starting the new junior association is seeing new kids get opportunities to show cattle.

I really want to be able to create opportunities for other people. Being able to see the incredible community that the Angus breed has, I want others to experience that as well.” — McKinley Lucas

“Most of the kids in [the Association] right now, they didn’t grow up on their family’s ranch,” she explains. “It’s so cool to see all these other kids still be able to be in this industry without necessarily growing up in it.”

Many members are first-generation cattle enthusiasts who found their way into the industry through 4-H, county fairs, leased cattle projects or local farms. In a state better known for suburbs and specialty crops than commercial cow herds, Lucas says those opportunities are important.

“We have a few members that don’t breed Angus and aren’t able to, but they lease from other members and they’ve been able to get involved through that. It’s incredible to see people that have no background in ag and being able to give that opportunity to those kids.”

Challenges and goals

Like any new organization, the New Jersey Junior Angus Association has faced its share of challenges. Recruitment remains one of the biggest.

New Jersey’s agricultural landscape is diverse, but cattle numbers are relatively modest. Finding youth with the ability and interest to raise Angus cattle can be difficult.

“Everyone that we have so far is so willing,” Lucas says. “But just continuing to grow has been a huge challenge.”

Still, both young leaders believe with time and awareness, that’s a challenge they can overcome.

Fundraising has also been a key focus. As the group works to bring fun activities and events to members, they’ve started to explore a few different avenues. 

From apparel sales to Krispy Kreme campaigns, the New Jersey juniors are working to build their funding — all with the goal of creating more opportunities for members.

Eventually, both Lucas and Kilinski say they hope to have enough money raised to take a group of New Jersey juniors to the National Junior Angus Show (NJAS).

“I would love to see New Jersey have their own New Jersey Junior Angus Breeder Preview Show and then to be able to go as a whole group to junior nationals,” Kilinski says.

Although the association is still in its infancy, its leaders already have some events in the works. One of the most exciting milestones is the state’s first junior Angus show, planned in conjunction with the New Jersey State Fair. 

“We talked to the guy that runs our state fair, and we got him to add a New Jersey Junior Angus show portion to our state fair,” Kilinski explains. 

Both girls hope the association will continue providing opportunities for future generations of Angus youth long after they leave the program — whether they come from long-established cattle operations or are just discovering a passion for the breed.

“This first year, we’re working on the not-so-glorious task of getting our organizational filings in order, including our tax ID and nonprofit status,” Lucas says. “In the years to come, I’d love to see our association leading to better cattle being produced in our state, better genetics and better promotion of the Angus breed to local producers through things like farm to table.”

The future of The Business Breed in New Jersey is bright. Thanks to two determined young cattlewomen, the small, but densely populated state has an operational junior association and several opportunities for involvement coming down the line.

“I really want to be able to create opportunities for other people,” Lucas says. “Being able to see the incredible community that the Angus breed has, I want others to experience that as well.”

Kilinski agrees.

“We still have cattle over here, and we still have kids that are very interested,” she adds. “I’m just excited to see how this progresses with years to come.”