At the fifth annual Cattlemen’s Congress, Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster Ron Hays got to talk with another cattle breed representative, Blake Nelson, Executive Vice President of the American Maine-Anjou Association.
Nelson has been a part of the show from the beginning as a member of the board of directors, but even he never dreamed it would reach the heights that it has. “Initially, when we did it during COVID, it was just an event that we knew we needed to do for the sake of the industry. I don’t think we ever dreamed it would become an annual event, and the premiere cattle show in the seedstock business like it has grown to be.”
The success of the show was great, but so was the marketing opportunity for cattlemen through the multiple sales held throughout that first event. “Nearly every breed had some of their best sales ever,” Nelson said. “We are in the heart of cattle country here in Oklahoma, with Texas and Kansas on both sides and with the internet, we can go nationwide when it comes to marketing.”
Speaking for his breed association, Nelson says that it has been a phenomenal year with breeders keeping high standards of versatility for both commercial and show purposes.
“The supreme heifer at many of the major shows this past fall has been a Maine-Anjou or a Maine derivative,” he shared. “I think our cattle, now, are more industry-acceptable than maybe they have ever been in our history.”
He noted that people consider Maine-Anjou cattle as a muscle breed, which they do provide, but the breed also has excellent mothering abilities, good foot-design, udder quality, and longevity. He described them as complementary to many other breeds saying that they add a punch of performance without sacrificing good maternal traits.
“We have progressed in our Maine-Angus program,” he said. “We know that Angus are the most popular breed in the U.S. if not the world, now, and we wanted to show how our breed can complement Angus. The more we get those cattle in front of folks, they see it, they like it, and they want to try it. That program continues to grow.”
He told of various Angus breeders at Cattlemen’s Congress reaching out to him to ask about diversifying their herds with Maine-Anjou bulls or females.
“That added hybrid vigor – we’ve all been taught since we were kids that the cheap gain is taking advantage of nature’s profitability built-in,” he said. “We can add that extra amount of punch in there and not really have to sacrifice anything – and keep them black-hided.”
Cattle markets everywhere are extremely strong, and Maine-Anjou breeders are enjoying the same benefits. Nelson shared that many of the end-of-year breed sales were as good as ever and expects that to continue into 2025 at Congress and beyond.
Nelson touted the excellent job that American Maine-Anjou Association staff members like Junior Directors Lindsey Broek and Rylee Matheny do in protecting the breed’s future by running a good junior program for younger enthusiasts.
“We focus on having a family-friendly event in the summer which includes some other leadership events with it,” he said. “The Junior program has continued to grow and that is something that we know is never going to go out of style – developing our youth. You can’t go wrong when investing in that.”
Maine-Anjou cattle will show at Cattlemen’s Congress on Friday, January 10, with the Junior and Open Maine-Angus and then the Maintainer Female Shows, penned bulls and females will show on the following morning. Saturday afternoon at 2 pm will feature the “Bright Lights” Maine-Anjou Bull/Female Sale in the Super Barn Sale Arena. Still more will show on Sunday morning in the Jim Norick Arena.
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