For more than 40 years, the American Angus Association’s Angus Heritage Foundation has recognized the passion, dedication and perseverance of individuals whose life’s work has had a lasting influence on the Angus breed. Today more than 80% of the U.S. cow herd is Angus-influenced. The forward-thinking action of the 2024 Heritage Foundation inductees contributed to that market share and helped position The Business Breed as a leader in the industry.

The 2024 inductees are: Bill and Sally Bowman, Saint Joseph, Mo.; Dave and Yvonne Hinman, Malta, Mont.; Bob and Jim Sitz, Harrison and Dillon, Mont.; and Harlan Ritchie (posthumously), East Lansing, Mich.

Bill and Sally Bowman

Bill and Sally Bowman traveled separate paths to Angus, but their shared teamwork helped transform genetic tools and producers’ ability to use them.

Bill’s grandfather first taught him about livestock, and his small herd started as a junior high FFA project. He graduated with a degree in animal science from the University of Missouri and worked in various roles for the American Angus Association, including as a regional manager, director of commercial programs, and director of performance programs.

Sally Northcutt-Bowman, a native of Lexington, Ky., earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Kentucky and then completed a doctorate in quantitative genetics at Iowa State University. After time at Oklahoma State University, she landed at the Association, bringing the organization’s genetic evaluation in-house for the first time.

“We wanted to be more fluid and be efficient and change the environment of the industry,” Bill says.

During their time at the Association, the duo led the introduction of dollar value indexes ($Values) and genomically enhanced expected progeny differences (EPDs). They helped create Angus Genetics Inc. (AGI) as a standalone subsidiary of the Association. With Sally working on the data to build tools, Bill was “out in the country” helping to inspire adoption as AGI’s first president.

“I am still immersed in Angus cattle and the Angus breed, and will be my whole life,” Sally says. In 2014, Sally founded Method Genetics, and Bill became her first employee. The couple was married in 2017 and continue to advance the Angus breed through data-driven innovation and a strong sense of commitment to the cattlemen they serve.

Dave and Yvonne Hinman

Pioneer breeders of performance cattle, Dave and Yvonne Hinman of Hinman Angus, have raised registered Angus cattle since 1973.

“It’s a work in progress forever, and it will be for the next generation and the next one,” says Dave.

The couple and their daughters, Jill and Heidi, ran Hinman Angus in Willow Creek, Mont., for more than 25 years. In 1988, they had their first production sale, joining with Bill and Jennifer Davis and two other couples as Performance Breeders, a group that worked together until 2008 to market registered Angus seedstock.

“The reason we wanted to do it together was, at the time, we wanted more bulls in one sale,” Dave says. “It worked.”

In 2000, Dave and Yvonne made the move to “good old cow country” near Malta, Mont., to lease an 8,000-acre ranch and later purchase land in the area. In Malta, they have worked alongside daughter Heidi and son-in-law Billy Lulloff for many years, mentoring them and now their grandson Tyler Lulloff. Together, the family continues to produce high-quality, reputation cattle as Hinman Angus and distribute their signature, bright yellow-covered sale books annually.

As leaders in the breed, Dave served on the Association Board of Directors from 2017 to 2023. Yvonne served as president of the American Angus Auxiliary in 1999-2000 and was honored with the Auxiliary’s Distinguished Woman Award in 2007. In 2005, the Performance Breeders were recognized with the Certified Angus Beef (CAB) Seedstock Commitment to Excellence Award.

“If I had advice for young breeders, I’d do this: Make some friendships with older breeders that have been in the business and listen to them,” Dave says. “I was very, very fortunate to have a lot of them. … Those friendships, that’s what made it so special.”

Bob and Jim Sitz

Bob (Jr.) and Jim Sitz of Harrison and Dillon, Mont., lead Sitz Angus as its third generation. They labored alongside their parents Bob (Sr.) and Donna as young men, growing a passion for Angus cattle and the cattle business. In their 20s, they chose to manage the ranch alongside their mother after the untimely death of their father in 1989.

“My dad always said we had to be a jack-of-all-trades. That would fit Sitz Angus ranch to a T,” says Jim.

Together, the brothers and their mother guided the ranch through some lean years that included a mature cow dispersal and subsequent herd rebuilding. 

In the decades since, they have expanded the ranch from a single location in Harrison to three properties, and they have prioritized customer relationships, adopted new technologies like embryo transfer and genomics, and improved the quality of their cattle.

“What’s helped us survive for over 100 years? I’d say adaptability,” says Jim. “The consistency of knowing that the only thing constant in this world is change. When there is new technology that is brought forward, you can’t be afraid to embrace it.”

Sitz Angus sires consistently claim spots in annual lists of the top 25 sires for breed registration, and their reputation for being a high-quality source of maternal genetics persists. As leaders, Bob serves the Montana Stockgrowers Association in addition to being an active member of the American Angus Association. Jim followed in his father’s footsteps, serving on the Association Board of Directors from 2009 to 2016 and as president in 2016.

Today, Jim and Bob, along with Jim’s wife Tammi (Huntsman), manage Sitz Angus with their families. Jim also markets customers’ cattle as a representative with Northern Livestock Video Auction. The brothers continue to be long-term supporters and collectors of performance data, especially with the pulmonary arterial pressure (PAP) EPD and as a MaternalPlus^® herd.

Harlan Ritchie (posthumously)

Harlan Ritchie’s profound legacy and influence on the cattle industry is unmatched. Throughout the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, the Michigan State University (MSU) professor championed change, driving cattle trends with his bold selections in the show ring, groundbreaking research and published works.

“Dr. Ritchie had the innate ability to foresee the future needs of the beef cattle industry,” says Ken Geuns, Ritchie’s business partner in Ventura Farms.