KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kevin Schultz, Haviland, Kan., was announced as the new president of the American Hereford Association (AHA) during the Annual Meeting and Conference Oct. 28 in Kansas City, Mo.

Schultz, along with his wife Vera, owns and operates Sandhill Farms, Haviland, Kan. Sandhill Farms is a seven-generation, diversified farming and cattle operation with 300 cows.

The family has fed out its steers at commercial feedlots for the past 15-20 years. Feedlot performance data, as well as individual carcass data, have been collected and tracked.

The Schultz family also sells commercial open heifers and customer-owned black baldie heifers each year in the sale. Sandhill genetics have been part of the National Reference Sire Program (NRSP) and the Circle A Ranch heterosis project. Schultz uses these programs to increase the accuracy and predictability of his bulls and to identify outliers that will help move the breed in the desired direction. Sandhill Farms is a Gold TPR™ (Total Performance Record)Breeder; the family has been whole-herd reporting since the beginning of its registered cattle program.

“Transparency is vitally important for the success of the members, the Association, board and staff,” Schultz said. “I want to continue with open communication of goals and ideas between the Association and the members. I also want to support the staff in implementing the programs that have been initiated, such as the new genetic evaluation and indexes and the new ideas and programs that will be used to implement the strategic plan.”

Atkins selected vice president

Selected to serve as the 2018 vice president was Pete Atkins, Tea, S.D. Atkins and his wife, Laura, and three sons, Scott, Craig and Paul, own and operate Atkins Herefords, Tea, S.D.

Pete was raised on a diversified cattle, hog and crop farming operation in southeastern South Dakota, where he and his wife live today. The Atkins family started collecting and reporting performance data in 1975 and have used artificial insemination (AI) since the late 1970s and embryo transfer (ET) for the past nine years.

Atkins Herefords’ goal is to produce high-performing cattle with moderate birth weights that have eye appeal and will work for the commercial cattleman. Emphasis is placed on raising sound, trouble-free cattle, and udder quality in the cow herd is stressed heavily. Pete thinks it is important to use a balance of all tools available when selecting breeding stock.

Today, Atkins Herefords consists of a base herd of 25 registered cows, and it produces an additional 20 to 50 ET calves each year. Together with their good friends and partners, the Jerry Delaney family, the Atkins’ market bulls through a bull sale each year, and every other year they market females through a fall production sale. Atkins Herefords consigns bulls and females to the Mile High Night Sale and exhibits carloads of bulls and pens of heifers with the Delaneys each year in Denver.

Directors elected

Delegates elected three new directors during the membership meeting. Nate Frederickson, Spearfish, S.D.; Mark St. Pierre, El Nido, Calif.; and Joe Waggoner, Carthage, Miss., will serve four-year terms on the 12-member Board.
Completing their terms on the AHA Board were outgoing president Terri Barber, Channing, Texas; Dave Bielema, Ada, Mich.; and Joe Van Newkirk, Oshkosh, Neb.

Nate Frederickson

Cattleman Nate Frederickson, Spearfish, S.D., is co-owner and operator of Frederickson Ranch in the Northern Black Hills of South Dakota.

Nate, along with his wife, Jayna, two young sons, Teegan and Tiernan, and his parents, Mark and Mary Kay, run 450-500 head of registered Hereford, Angus and commercial cows, which are used in their ET program.

Frederickson Ranch markets bulls through a private limited liability company called Pyramid Beef, which was created seven years ago as a marketing outlet for the ranch’s bulls and commercial females. Pyramid Beef has two outside partners and markets 150 bulls a year through the annual production sale, hosted at the bull development center on the ranch.

Frederickson Ranch strives to provide its customers efficient, low-maintenance genetics along with exceptional customer service and avenues to help them add value to their bottom line.

Prior to ranching full-time, Nate spent 14 years in the animal health industry working with veterinarians, distribution companies, feedlots and cow-calf operations.

Nate is currently serving on the board of directors for the South Dakota Hereford Association and is a member of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Spearfish.

Mark St. Pierre

Mark St. Pierre is the beef manager at Pedretti Ranches in El Nido, Calif. He is a member of the Pedretti family, and has worked in the family business for 36 years.

At Pedretti Ranches, Mark manages the Hereford herd, which consists of 200 registered cows with 100 calving in the spring and 100 calving in the fall.

The Pedrettis have long emphasized performance data in their Hereford herd with performance records dating back to the 1950s. While the ranch received recognition in the showring in the ’70s and early ’80s, including cattle shown on the Hill and in the carloads at the NWSS, the Pedrettis’ goal has always been to produce cattle that work for the commercial cattlemen in California.
Pedretti Ranches raises approximately 80 bulls each year, which are marketed by private treaty sales. With two calving seasons six months apart, the ranch always has the next set of bulls on test. Both Mark and his father-in-law, Gino Pedretti, work with commercial customers. Pedretti Ranches focuses on sound cattle with balance EPDs, good disposition and udder quality.

Mark manages the day-to-day work including addressing herd health issues, vaccination schedules, feeding, pasture management, breeding and calving. He also works in the farming operation, which involves growing cotton, corn and hay, and has some limited duty on the family dairy.

Mark has served as a California-Nevada Hereford Association board member and has hosted numerous tours. He has been a Merced-Mariposa County Cattlemen’s Association director, a member of the Chowchilla High School FFA ag advisory committee, a 4-H leader and a volunteer fireman. Mark has also served as a deacon and elder in his local church.

Mark and his wife, Kim, have two children — a daughter, Christy, and a son, Matt, and his wife, Leah — and one granddaughter.

Joe Waggoner

Hereford breeder Joe Waggoner, Carthage, Miss., has been raising cattle all of his life.

Joe’s youth was shaped by experiences in both beef and dairy judging and exhibiting livestock. He learned the business from his father, and now, 55 years after purchasing his first Hereford calf, he manages the seedstock division of his family’s fourth-generation farm in central Mississippi — Waggoner Cattle Co. LLC. The family farm consists of a 150-head Hereford herd, a commercial herd and timber production.

The purebred cattle are marketed regionally in the Southeast with partnerships for bull development and sales in Kansas while females are marketed private treaty. Joe works to improve herd genetics and performance through participation in the Mississippi Beef Cattle Improvement Association (MBCIA), AHA Whole Herd TPR and genomic testing.

Joe’s father also influenced his decision to obtain degrees in civil engineering and law. In 1976 Joe and his wife, Allison, founded a civil engineering and management business in Jackson, Miss. For the last 40 years, growing this firm and expanding the family cattle business have formed Joe’s professional career.

Joe joined the American Polled Hereford Association in 1964 and became a member of the AHA following the merger of the polled and horned organizations. He has served as president, secretary and a board member of the Mississippi Polled Hereford Association and has sponsored field days at the farm.

He is a member of the MBCIA, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and the Beef Improvement Federation. Joe is also involved in chambers of commerce, economic development districts, state and national bar associations, the Society of International Business Fellows, the National Society of Professional Engineers, the American Council of Engineering Companies and Habitat for Humanity. Joe and Allison have two grown daughters — Alex Ayres and Olivia Claire.

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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 more information about the Association, visit Hereford.org.

For pictures and additional Annual Meeting news releases, visit www.hereford.org/media.


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Cutline: Pictured is the 2017-18 AHA Board of Directors. From left to right (sitting): Kevin Schultz, president, Haviland, Kan.; Pete Atkins, vice president, Tea, S.D.; Bob Thompson, Rolla, Mo.; Tommy Mead, Midville, Ga.; and Jack Ward, AHA executive vice president. From left to right (standing): Joe Waggoner, Carthage, Miss.; Nate Frederickson, Spearfish, S.D.; Mark St. Pierre, El Nido, Calif.; Joel Birdwell, Kingfisher, Okla.; Jim Bellis, Auora, Mo.; and Bruce Thomas, Goldcreek, Mont.
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