• BY KATELYN ENGEL, ANGUS COMMUNICATIONS

• The 140th Annual Convention of Delegates for the American Angus Association assembled Nov. 6 in Orlando, Fla. Five members were re-elected to the Board of Directors for a second term. They are Mark Ahearn, Wills Point, Texas; Smitty Lamb, Tifton, Ga.; Charles Mogck, Olivet, S.D.; Darrell Stevenson, White Sulphur Springs, Mont.; and Jerry Theis, Leavenworth, Kan. The officers of the Board were also elected.

Elected officers are Barry Pollard, Enid, Okla., president and chairman of the Board; and Jonathan Perry, Fayetteville, Tenn., vice president and vice chairman of the Board. Jim Brinkley, Milan, Mo., will serve as the treasurer for the 2023 to 2024 term.

“I look forward to working with the board and the membership in general, and the staff as well,” Pollard says. “We have such talented people all across that at every level, and we want to hear their ideas. We want to hear how the things we’ve done for them genetically or EPDs (expected progeny differences) are benefiting their herd and what questions they have.”

Directors can serve up to two three-year terms on the board and, if elected, they serve an additional one-year term in office as president/chairman and/or vice president/vice chairman.

Directors elected

Ahearn was raised on a small family farm with commercial cattle and a few horses. After spending some time away from cattle production, Ahearn and his family established Turner Meadow Ranch in East Texas in the mid-1980s. Aside from his 35-year career in law enforcement, Ahearn said his passion has always been raising high-quality Angus cattle. He has studied pedigrees and learned the business from the ground up. His family has grown their herd to about 200 females. Before serving his first term on the Association’s board of directors, Ahearn served in a leadership role with the Texas Angus Association for 16 years through which he helped create numerous educational opportunities and organize sale events. Ahearn was also responsible for writing the policy for the Raymond Moore Endowment Scholarship Fund, which benefits Texas Junior Angus members. He said he has a strong desire to continue serving the membership and to give back to the organization.

Lamb grew up on small farm in East Georgia, where he discovered his passion for Angus cattle at an early age. His passion led him to the University of Georgia where he earned a bachelor’s degree in animal science and a master’s degree in meat and muscle biology. Currently, Lamb works as a cotton merchant for a large commodity trading company and enjoys coming home to his Angus cattle herd. His family has owned and operated Ogeechee Angus Farm since 1997, Since 2017, Ogeechee Angus Farm has marketed more than 100 bulls annually; and this past spring, Ogeechee Angus hosted their 16th annual Angus Female Southern Synergy Sale. Aside from his time on the Association’s board of directors, Lamb has served in leadership roles with the Georgia Angus Association, the Southern National Angus Show committee, and the National Junior Angus Show, serving as its committee co-chair in 2009. The Lambs were awarded the Georgia Angus Association Member of the Year in 2017 for their service to the organization.

Mogck is a third-generation Angus breeder from South Dakota. Mogck has always had a passion for Angus cattle and has built upon his family’s heritage in the breed, increasing their herd to 400 registered females. He began his career as a loan officer after attending South Dakota State University, but eventually he found himself working on the farm full-time. Today, Mogck & Sons Angus markets 120 bulls and 50 females annually. They farm 2,000 acres of corn, beans and wheat with an additional 2,500 acres of pasture and hay ground. They also routinely buy feeder cattle from their commercial customers, allowing them to collect data on their customers’ cattle. Their operation actively utilizes Association programs such as MaternalPlus® and Angus Herd Improvement Records (AHIR®).  Mogck records ultrasound, carcass and genomic information to help them make the best decisions they can for the future of their herd. Mogck’s deep roots with respect to Angus cattle and enthusiasm for the breed shows through his dedication as a director on the Association’s board of directors.  

Stevenson holds strong ties to the Angus breed and a history of activity in the Montana Angus Association. Stevenson’s grandparents were charter members of the Montana Angus Association, and his father was on the state and national Association’s board of directors as well, serving as president from 1992-1993. Stevenson attended Montana State University before transferring to and graduating from Oklahoma State University. He now continues his family’s legacy by operating Stevenson Angus Ranch. He is actively involved in international Angus events and has attended shows in Argentina, New Zealand, Scotland and Russia. In 2010, Stevenson created a partnership with two Russian businessmen to form an international beef venture between the two countries. Due to its success, Stevenson has since overseen shipments of Angus cattle to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. His experience and history with the Angus breed led him to serve the organization on the Association’s board of directors for the past three years.

Theis is a devoted second-generation Angus breeder and lifetime member of the Association. His parents established April Valley Farms in 1952 in the Salt Creek Valley of Leavenworth County, Kansas. Theis graduated as a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from Kansas State University in 1991. He currently works at a local veterinary clinic while he manages his family’s diversified operation, which consists of Angus cattle and crop and swine production. Cattle are marketed through their annual spring production sale as well as through private treaties. April Valley Farms was recognized as a Historic Angus Herd by the Association in 2019. Theis and his wife are actively involved in the Kansas Angus Association as well, and just completed their second term as the Kansas Junior Angus Association advisors. Prior to his current position as a director on the national organization’s board of directors, Theis served two terms on the Kansas Angus Association board of directors and as president in 2010.

To learn more about the American Angus Association Board of Directors or how the delegate process works, visit www.angus.org.