Annual
Meeting

Southwest Region
209-479-0287
donbrumley1989@gmail.com

Don Brumley owns and operates Brumley Farms in Orovada, Nev. A Hereford heifer Don purchased as an FFA project turned into a registered Hereford operation that has been in business for more than 50 years. Don and his wife, Skeeter, share the farm’s responsibilities with their kids: Kari; Brooke and her husband, Ryan; and Bryce and his wife, Tayler. Don and his wife have five grandchildren. All of the Brumley children were active members of the National Junior Hereford Association (NJHA), participating in the first combined Junior National Hereford Expo (JNHE). Brumley Farms sends a truck and trailer to the JNHE each year to help the family’s customers and junior members in Nevada travel to the show. 

Brumley Farms consists of 100 head of registered Hereford cows and an alfalfa hay operation. They market their top heifer calves and select embryos in two online sales each year. The family also consigns to the national Hereford sales in Kansas City, Mo.; Reno, Nev.; Denver, Colo.; and Oklahoma City, Okla. They use embryo transfer (ET) programs and genomics to continually improve the expected progeny difference (EPD) profiles of their herd. Brumley Farms works to continue raising quality cattle, while keeping both phenotype and genotype in mind. 

Don graduated from California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly), in San Luis Obispo, Calif., in 1980 with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural business. While at Cal Poly, Don was a member of the livestock judging team, coached by Bill Jacobs, a Hereford enthusiast. 

Brumley Farms is a lifetime member of the American Hereford Association (AHA). Don has served as a voting delegate at many of the past AHA Annual Meetings. He has also served as a director on the California-Nevada Hereford Association and Western States Hereford Association boards. For the past several years, Brumley Farms has been a part of the Hereford Youth Foundation of America’s (HYFA) Foundation 1 Campaign. Don and his family have and will continue to exhibit Hereford cattle at national shows. The family is proud to have raised multiple national bull and female champions. Some of their most memorable moments are being named premier breeder and premier exhibitor at numerous national shows. 

Don currently serves as a volunteer firefighter for the Orovada Fire District and as the chairman for the Orovada General Improvement District. Prior to moving to Nevada, Don was a board director and chairman for Stanislaus Farm Supply. 

Southeast Region
615-477-5668
burnsda2@gmail.com

David Burns is a third-generation farmer from Pikeville, Tenn. David, along with his wife, Katie, and their daughter, Helen, own and operate Burns Farms. David serves as the farm manager at Burns Farms, home to one of the largest registered Hereford herds in the Southeast. Burns Farms currently runs 750 cows on 3,000 acres. The operation has four sales each year, where they sell around 150 bulls and females. 

David’s entire family is involved in the management and day-to-day operations at Burns Farms. David’s wife works to promote the operation through marketing and social media efforts. Helen helps check cows and tag calves. David’s sister, Sarah, and her family assist with freezer beef and live sales on the farm. Both of David’s parents are involved in the family business and are a vital part of the operation’s success. 

David received his bachelor’s degree in animal science from Middle Tennessee State University. Then, he went on to Michigan State University, where he obtained a master’s degree in reproductive physiology. 

David grew up showing Hereford cattle. He has served on the Tennessee Hereford Association (THA) board of directors and as president. While president, one of David’s goals was to merge the THA with the Tennessee Polled Hereford Association, and that goal was achieved. After the successful merger, he continued to serve as vice president. 

Currently, David is an active member of the Tennessee Cattlemen’s Association. Burns Farms hosts multiple informational field days each year along with collegiate judging team workouts and agricultural farm tours. In 2013, David was named the Tennessee Stockman of the Year by the University of Tennessee Block and Bridle Club. 

Burns Farms has been raising Hereford cattle since the operation was established in 1952. Today, David focuses on providing quality bull selection for the family’s customers while increasing genetic diversification in their area. 

Northwest Region
605-870-6172
danfawcett869@gmail.com

Fawcett’s Elm Creek Ranch (FECR), Ree Heights, S.D., is owned and operated by Danny Fawcett and his family. Danny’s wife, Kyla, owns Focus Marketing Group that specializes in livestock marketing. She helps FECR market their seedstock and brand the ranch. The Fawcetts have two children, Hollis and Ivy, who are both involved in the family ranch. Danny’s mom, Cheryl, is a partner on the ranch and handles the accounting side of the operation. Kristin and Weston Kusser also partner with the Fawcett family and call FECR home. 

FECR calves around 1,000 cows each year, most of them registered Herefords. Most of the cropland is utilized for feed, but they also grow cash crops, such as corn, wheat and soybeans. Every October, FECR hosts a female sale where they offer 15 to 30 head, with the bulk of them being sold to South Dakota Junior Hereford Association members and to others across the country. The Fawcett family also sells around 100 bulls and a potload of elite baldy heifers each February in their annual production sale. FECR is currently working to develop yearling heifers to be sold as bred heifers using Hereford and Angus genetics in this process. 

Danny says the goal of FECR is to continue to stay relevant in the Hereford breed by producing genetics that can be used by seedstock and commercial producers. Danny hopes to continue making decisions that will keep FECR headed in the right direction. 

Danny attended South Dakota State University, where he studied animal science and agricultural journalism and marketing. Recently, he held a position on the South Dakota Hereford Association (SDHA) board of directors for six years. During his time on the board, SDHA reached another level, as the directors connected seedstock and commercial cow-calf producers with feedlot and packer representatives. 

Danny grew up in the Hereford breed, exhibiting at the JNHE himself. His kids currently show at the JNHE and other national shows. Aside from his kids’ involvement, Danny has judged national shows across the country. 

Currently, Danny sits on the South Dakota Beef Breeds Council where he helps to promote beef in South Dakota. He is a past board member for the Hand County Livestock and Crop Improvement Association. 

Danny is a past Hereford Herdsman of the Year, as well as SDHA Hereford Enthusiast of the Year. Aside from his awards and recognitions, Danny says his biggest achievement has been positively impacting the juniors involved in the Hereford breed. 

Northeast Region
217-822-2803
lf3@ecicwireless.com

Steve Lorenzen resides on the rural Chrisman, Ill., farm, where he was born and raised. He graduated from Scottland High School in 1970 and received an associate’s degree in agriculture from Danville Area Community College in 1972. 

After college, Steve traveled with show strings for Ellis Farms, Natures Acres, Myrtlewood Farms and Glenkirk Farms. He then returned to the family farm and joined the Lorenzen Farms partnership in 1972. Lorenzen Farms is a diversified grain and livestock farm that maintains a herd of 225 cows, including 150 Herefords and 50 Angus; the rest are black baldies. 

Lorenzen Farms sells seedstock and show calves; the remaining cattle are sold as feeders by private treaty and through Carthage Livestock Inc. Lorenzen Farms has two cattle sales a year, a production sale in the fall and an online bull sale in the spring. They row crop about 5,100 acres of food-grade corn, seed corn, seed beans and wheat. Additionally, Lorenzen Farms raises and markets purebred Yorkshire seedstock, show pigs and market hogs produced from their 150-sow operation. Steve is responsible for general bookkeeping and accounting, overseeing the cattle operation and during his “vacation time,” he gets to operate a tractor and combine. Lorenzen Farms was honored as the Illinois Beef Association Seedstock Producer of the Year in 2021. 

Steve served 31 years on the Chrisman School board, and 14 years as president. He also served as a township board member for Edgar County Farm Bureau. Steve served several terms on the Illinois Hereford Association board and has held many other leadership positions. 

Steve and his wife were 4‑H leaders for 33 years. He has also been actively involved in Grace Lutheran Church and has served as congregation president, elder and trustee. 

His family farm partnership consists of six families that raised 23 children on the operation. They’ve been through the good times and the bad, but he says one couldn’t have chosen a better atmosphere to rear a family than the diversified grain and livestock farm that he’s been blessed with. 

Steve and his wife, Vicki, have been married 53 years as of October 2024. They have seven grandchildren and one great-granddaughter. Cattle shows are the couple’s vacations; the farm’s first junior national Hereford show was in 1978, and they’ve only missed one event since 1985. 

Northwest Region
308-470-1190
glmherefords@bluevalley.net

Grant McKay, Marysville, Kan., owns and operates GLM Herefords with his wife, Linda; daughter, Bailey; and late son, Seth. GLM’s day-to-day operations are handled by Grant and Linda. Bailey works to keep the business in the public eye by managing GLM’s marketing efforts and social media platforms. Two years after moving to the U.S., Grant started GLM with the purchase of one Hereford heifer from G&R Polled Herefords in 1993. Today, GLM partners with Sue Rowland of G&R Polled Herefords. 

GLM Herefords currently runs approximately 100 head of registered cows alongside diversified crops and forage acres. Since its start, GLM has relied on the collection and use of performance data tools. GLM uses an extensive AI and ET program to help maintain their focus of raising high-quality seedstock cattle. GLM’s goal since the beginning has been to produce high-performing cattle with moderate birth weight and convenience traits that fit the needs of many different producers. 

GLM sells their bulls through private-treaty sales. The operation’s females and steers are all sold privately. GLM has consigned to the Ladies of the Royal sale and currently consigns cattle to the Nebraska Cornhusker Classic, National Western Stock Show Herefords in the Yards Sale and the Generations in the Making online sale. GLM was named the Kansas Polled Hereford Association New Breeder of the Year in 2000. 

Grant earned his associate’s degree in applied science from Cloud County Community College in Concordia, Kan. He is an active and past member in multiple Hereford associations, both in America and Canada. In the past, Grant served as a board director for the Nebraska Hereford Association, and he and Linda were advisors for the Nebraska Junior Hereford Association. Grant served as a chairman for the 2012 JNHE, held in Grand Island, Neb. Aside from Hereford associations, Grant has been active in multiple livestock and cattlemen’s associations. 

While growing up in Canada, Grant gained extensive industry experience working for several prominent Canadian Hereford breeders. His work at WTK Polled Herefords, Circle D Polled Herefords and Haroldson’s Polled Herefords helped him build a solid foundation of knowledge. Currently, Grant works for Ag Sale Day. He credits his management skills and industry knowledge to the many different operations where he has worked along the way. 

Northwest Region
308-222-0170
jimwilliams335@gmail.com

Jim Williams and his wife, Sheila, raise registered Hereford cattle at their operation, Valley View Cattle Co., in Kearney, Neb. Jim’s history in the Hereford breed goes back to 1960, when his grandfather, Harry, purchased his first registered Hereford bull. 

Jim’s career path has led him down many roads in the Hereford breed. Majoring in animal science, he attended The Ohio State University and jumped headfirst into the cattle business. After graduation, he spent eight years between Lone Star Hereford Ranch in Texas and EE Ranches in Mississippi. 

In 1992, before the AHA merger, Jim began working as a field representative, covering Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri and Arkansas. Three years later, post-merger, he assumed the role of vice president of supply with Certified Hereford Beef® (CHB). During that time, Jim helped develop relationships with cattle feeders, working hard to ensure Herefords found a seat at the table in the commercial marketplace. 

Through the ’90s, Jim worked closely with Olsen Ranches in Harrisburg, Neb., to develop a process to quickly recognize Hereford sires with genetic merit. That initial data collection laid the groundwork for the National Reference Sire Program. 

After a stint of working in feedyard-packer relations, he returned to Hereford. In 2001, Jim resumed his role as the vice president of supply for CHB and worked to promote Hereford beef. Jim, along with many others at CHB, helped the brand make significant strides. The network of feeders pursuing Hereford genetics broadened, and the Hereford Verified® program was developed. 

In 2009, Jim returned to the fed cattle sector, working in third-party research for animal health companies. In 2013, he accepted a new challenge and began working as a cattle buyer for Greater Omaha Packing (GOP). 

Jim was a useful asset to GOP, helping grow two USDA recognized branded beef programs that both highlight Hereford genetics, 1881 Omaha Hereford™ and Omaha Classic Hereford Beef™. Successfully creating programs like this was not easy, but Jim has always believed in connecting people within the industry. Leveraging his relationships, Jim aided in placing Hereford and Hereford-influenced calves for cattle feeders looking to take part in GOP’s value-added programs. 

Jim is the current head of cattle procurement and a member of the senior management team at WR Reserve in Hastings, Neb. He plays a major role in upholding WR’s goals of providing consumers with the best product, while working to double harvest capacity by 2026. His passion has been, and always will be, promoting the Hereford breed and the cattle industry. Jim is active in his community and volunteers at many local 4-H and youth livestock events and is a member at the Kearney eFree Christian Church.