The American Angus Association® recognized Josh Worthington of Dadeville, Missouri as the 2025 Young Breeder of the Year on November 1 during Angus Convention in Kansas City, Missouri. Josh and his wife, childhood sweetheart and business partner Corry Worthington, own and operate Worthington Angus with their three sons: Wriston, Grayson and Corbin.
The Young Breeder of the Year Award recognizes a young, registered Angus breeder for their leadership within the Angus breed, participation in Angus programs and innovation within their herd.
For Josh and his family, what began with just four registered Angus cows on a rental property in 2005 has grown into a thriving seedstock operation. They breed through a total artificial insemination and embryo transfer program.
Josh said they breed around 350 females and transfer 400-500 embryos annually, and this model has allowed them to market 250 bulls a year and some registered females in both their spring and fall sales.
“Everything that we do here is about the customer,” Josh said.
He emphasizes another key to their success is being “laser focused” and disciplined in their methods. He said he values proven genetics and uses data to guide decisions.
“Josh has done a great job of building a program and a customer base from the ground up,” said Casey Jentz, chief operating officer of the Association. “He combines his passion and enthusiasm for the Angus business with the tools and programs the Association provides to help his customers be successful. Josh is a young breeder that other members look to, to get ideas and emulate what he has built at Worthington Angus to help build their own operation.”
For the first 11 years of Worthington Angus, Josh served as general manager of the Missouri Angus Association. The transition period – while Josh was still full-time with the state association and yet often burning the midnight oil at home to grow his own herd – was challenging.
“When we decided to make the transition from Missouri Angus, obviously the cow herd was already growing a lot here,” he said. “My full-time interest had to be with the association. That’s what my job was, and I wanted to serve those members with everything I had. So we relied on family. My dad took care of a lot of cows here.”
He also credits the support of other family members, including his brother, in helping them overcome the challenge of scaling their herd during this critical period.
“We’ve always been the kind of people that we worked really, really hard on plan A and thought through every possible scenario of plan A and tried to pick holes in plan A,” Josh said. “And plan B was making sure plan A didn’t fail, and for the most part we’ve got along okay doing that.”
He said they try to consistently go the extra mile for customers, helping them market their cattle and showing them how to capture added value from Worthington Angus bulls by targeting high-quality beef production.
“Anything that we can do to be the marketing arm, we just made up our minds that our customers are busy and that’s a service that we can provide,” Josh said. “I know when customers come here to make a purchase, it’s a big deal; and we treat it like that. It’s just a step in us getting to be a part of their lives, and we want it to be a good part.”
Applicants for the Young Breeder of the Year Award can nominate themselves or be nominated by someone else. Applicants must be between 25 and 45 years old as of the current year and an active member of the Association. Couples or business partners can be nominated if they meet age requirements. Herd ownership and/or management responsibility is required of each individual applicant.
