When Rosalind Kidwell said all she’s ever known is the beef industry, she really meant it. If the title of fifth-generation Angus breeder wasn’t enough, Kidwell recently earned the famous red blazer of Miss American Angus when she was crowned during the annual American Angus Association® Awards Dinner and Reception held Sunday, Nov. 3 in Fort Worth, Texas, as part of Angus Convention.

“I think that Miss American Angus is almost like a focal point for the Angus breed,” the Gentryville, Indiana, local said. “I love advocating for the Angus breed. I love talking about it. So, to have that opportunity to advocate for the Angus breed and the beef industry is something I think that is really, really pivotal to Miss American Angus.”

The leadership role is also a chance for Kidwell to carry on a legacy. “Family history is a really important thing to me,” she explained. “I ran for junior princess within Indiana, and we were going through scrapbooks of pictures from my grandparents, and I still remember finding the certificate that verified my great, great, great grandpa as a member of the Indiana Junior Angus Association and the American Aberdeen Breeders Association.”

That same great, great, great grandpa was also one of the first people to exhibit the champion bred and owned heifer and champion bull at the Chicago Stock Exchange.

“Those were small things that we always told stories about at family get-togethers,” Kidwell said. “Just being around that tradition and that history… it’s kind of become something that I wanted to carry on.”

As her older cousin, Maddie Butler, exhibited her black-hided cattle across the country, Kidwell found herself happy to tag along.

“I was always going to shows,” she explained, recalling memories on the road, looking up to Butler. “I grew up being around her constantly, pretty well from the time I was about five until when she stopped showing, which would’ve been right after she became Miss American Angus.”

After watching her older cousin wear the crown of Miss American Angus, Kidwell knew it was a role she wanted to work toward.

“I saw her grow into being a really confident, powerful and poised young woman for other people to look up to,” Kidwell said. “I want to do that for young girls. I want to give young girls the opportunity to have that mentor and someone to look up to within the ag industry.”

Kidwell’s passion for the industry goes beyond family ties. She’s pursuing a biochemistry degree and animal science minor at Purdue University, with hopes of finding a career as a veterinary pharmacist.

Find Kidwell in the crown, red blazer and sash during her travels as Miss American Angus this year. For more information about the American Angus Auxiliary-sponsored contest, visit www.angusauxiliary.com.