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Grimmel Schaake Wins 2024 Hereford Herdsman of the Year

Grimmel Schaake Wins 2024 Hereford Herdsman of the Year

January 10, 2024

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Melissa Grimmel Schaake, Manhattan, Kan., was honored as the 2024 Hereford Herdsman of the Year at the National Hereford Show during the fourth annual Cattlemen’s Congress hosted in Oklahoma City, Okla. After …


KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Melissa Grimmel Schaake, Manhattan, Kan., was honored as the 2024 Hereford Herdsman of the Year at the National Hereford Show during the fourth annual Cattlemen’s Congress hosted in Oklahoma City, Okla. After votes were cast by fellow Hereford herdsmen and breeders, the award was announced between the selection of the grand champion horned and polled Hereford females on Jan. 7 in Jim Norick Arena. 

Every year, the Hereford Herdsman of the Year award honors an outstanding herdsman in the Hereford breed. 

Born and raised in Maryland on her family’s grain farm, Melissa paved her way as a first-generation cattlewoman. Her passion, drive, and love for the breed led her to an extremely successful junior show career; winning several national champion honors, including show heifer and bull of the year awards. 

In 2016, Melissa graduated from Kansas State University with dual degrees in agricultural communications and animal sciences and industry. During college, Melissa and Shane began dedicating their efforts to building a herd of their own. Proven cow families are the core of their operation, where they prioritize structural integrity, maternal ability, with the expectation that their cattle will thrive in multiple environments and facets of the industry — from the show ring to real world beef production.  

With Shane traveling a majority of the year, Melissa manages their intensive AI, ET and IVF programs. She constantly studies leading genetics to produce high-quality females and bulls for junior members, and purebred and commercial producers. Along with devoting time to the daily care of sale and show cattle, Melissa handles the overall nutrition, health, calving, and marketing of their genetics. In December 2021, the couple established operation headquarters for Grimmel Schaake Cattle Company. 

Since putting a stamp on a herd and place they built together, Melissa and Shane have achieved success by being named Premier Hereford Breeder at both the 2022 and 2023 American Royal, winning division titles at the Junior National Hereford Expo, American Royal, NAILE, Cattlemen’s Congress, and most notably raising the Reserve Grand Champion Polled Female at both the 2020 and 2023 National Western Stock Show. 

One of Melissa’s core values is not only raising quality livestock, but giving back and helping juniors members both in and out of the show ring. She focuses in providing superior customer service, and assisting junior members in strengthening their skills with showmanship, clipping, fitting, feed management, and livestock evaluation. 

Melissa is grateful for the friends and fellow breeders who helped, guided and supported her along the way. She feels blessed to be a part of the Hereford breed, and is honored to be nominated as a candidate for Hereford Herdsman of the Year.

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The American Hereford Association, with headquarters in Kansas City, Mo., is one of the largest U.S. beef breed associations. The not-for-profit organization along with its subsidiaries — Certified Hereford Beef (CHB) LLC, Hereford Publications Inc. (HPI) and American Beef Records Association (ABRA) — provides programs and services for its members and their customers, while promoting the Hereford breed and supporting education, youth and research. For press releases and photos, visit Hereford.org/media.