Come Home to Kansas
Association president, CEO and regional manager set the stage for Angus conference.
WICHITA, Kan. (Oct. 3, 2012) — Angus is at a crossroads of the rich history of the breed and an exciting present and future, American Angus Association President Jarold Callahan told attendees of the 2012 National Angus Conference & Tour in Wichita, Kan., Oct. 3. Little more than two hours’ drive from Victoria, Kan., where George Grant brought the first Angus bulls to America, more than 400 participants gathered to discuss topics such as feed efficiency, reproduction tools, genomics and the world footprint of beef production.
American Angus Association President Jarold Callahan opened the conference by illustrating this past year's Angus success stories in the face of challenges.
Callahan said now is a great time for the Angus business. Registrations are up 7.5%-8%; a record 810 million pounds (lb.) of the Certified Angus Beef® (CAB®) brand were sold this year; cattle sales totals are at an all-time high; and demand for products are up because of CAB, Angus Genetics Inc. (AGI), and the national cattle evaluation (NCE). He attributed these successes to Angus breeders and cattlemen, and added that Angus enjoys the biggest market share ever.
Regional Manager Matt Caldwell set the stage for the conference program by illustrating the gains the Angus breed has made since 1873. The breed’s popularity started as a way to dehorn cows by mating them to an Angus bull, but the breed’s maternal efficiency soon became evident and its popularity grew.
Association CEO Bryce Schumann challenged participants, "What next?"
Through the years, many tools have become available to beef producers, and the American Angus Association has been at the forefront in offering those to its members, Caldwell said. Such tools include MaternalPlus, $Value indexes, residual average daily gain (RADG), genomically enhanced expected progeny differences (GE-EPDs), CAB and GeneMax, to name a few.
Bryce Schumann, Association CEO, wrapped up the conference by saying that the decisions made by Angus producers and the Association have a big impact within the beef industry. Programs successful now — like CAB and Angus Herd Improvement Records (AHIR®) — were mere ideas 30 years ago. There is real opportunity to adopt new technologies to help with feed efficiency, reproduction, performance and productivity.
Schumann concluded with the challenge, “What next?”
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