Jack Ward, Executive Vice President of the American Hereford Association since 2015, was on hand at the Cattlemen’s Congress. He and Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster Ron Hays met to discuss the breed and its presence at the Cattlemen’s Congress.
Ward shared that 325 Hereford cattle would be shown during the Open and 225 would be in the Junior show, with roughly fifteen Hereford pens being exhibited. “It’s going to be another great event – the cattle look incredible – we checked them in yesterday and I think it’s going to be a fantastic show,” he said.
According to Ward, 2024 was another good year for Herefords even though registrations were down a bit, as were cattle inventories; however, those declines were expected with overall cattle numbers down.
“Financially, we had a great year,” he said. “The association is in a very healthy place. The demand for the bulls was really incredible – we sold more bulls year-over-year for higher prices and it looks like we are going to get off to a very good start.”
Ward said that purebred Hereford breeders continue to get great feedback from commercial cattlemen about the value Herefords add to their commercial operations.
“We have worked hard to position the breed in a good light within the commercial industry,” he shared. “We’ve had a number of great research projects at Colorado State University, looking at maternal heterosis, and where Hereford can really benefit the commercial industry by increasing fertility and efficiency, within not only the cow herd but also the feedlot area.”
He noted that black, red, and brindle baldy females have been top of the market across the U.S. “I believe that is a good opportunity for us to capitalize on not only where we fit in a feeding sector, but really honing in on how we can affect the bottom line of the producer with increased calf numbers, increased weight, health, docility, efficiency – there are just so many components that the Hereford breed can help with.”
As for the versatility of the breed, a recent survey showed the prevalence of Hereford Cattle in every sector of the United States proving the adaptability of the cattle to where they can survive on fewer resources, tolerate heat and cold, resist lameness, and more.
“Hereford breeders are really resilient, and I am very proud of the membership because they are just really good stockmen,” Ward shared. “It’s not only understanding the genetics and selecting for some EPDs, but some of the fundamental traits that make the commercial cattlemen profitable. Our guys do a wonderful job of that kind of selection.”
He pointed out that seedstock Hereford breeders are proactive in adopting technology and the American Hereford Association logged its highest number of cattle to be genotyped in 2024. The genotyped animals not only have pedigrees, but also phenotypic information, and an added reliability on what can be found through genomics.
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