ACA Board of Directors Update

ACA BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Ryan Dunklau – President

Northwest Region • Nebraska • Term expires 2023 402.369.2025 • dunkcattleco@gmail.com

The Way I See It: The Long Way Home

by Ken Culp, III, Ph.D, At Large Director

Justin Tracy – Vice President

At Large Director • Nebraska • Term expires 2023 308.962.4255 • justin@tracycattle.com

Segayle Foster – Secretary

Southwest Region • Texas • Term expires 2022 806.445.2496 • segaylef@yahoo.com

Andy Higgins, Treasurer

Southeast Region • Tennessee • Term expires 2023 615.330.6446 • higg1andy@aol.com

Neal Branscum

At Large • Kentucky • Term expires 2024 606.872.5395 • nealbrascum@hotmail.com

Ken Culp, III, Ph.D

At Large Director • Kentucky • Term expires 2022 859.227.7506 • ken.culp@uky.edu

Derek Evans

At Large • Kentucky • Term expires 2022 217.218.0242 • derek@summitflooring.us

Jeff Miller

At Large • Indiana • Term expires 2024 765.414.4547 • jeffmillershowcattle@yahoo.com

Colton Prescott

Northeast Region • Indiana • Term expires 2024 260.729.2713 • crprescott92@yahoo.com

Keith Schrick

At Large • Texas • Term expires 2023 817.366.6435 • wine@schricksliquors.com

Nate Tice

At Large • Iowa • Term expires 2024 717.926.0874 • tice152@gmail.com

Tyler Winegardner

At Large • Ohio • Term expires 2022 419.236.4375 • tylerwinegardner@icloud.com Ionce heard it said that a lifetime can best be judged by viewing it in reverse, starting at the end, and rewinding to the beginning. In this way, the impact of decisions that were made at the beginning crystalize, draw sharply into focus, and become transparent.

I’ll rewind back to 1994. In those days, state associations hosted the Junior National. It was held that year in Richmond, Ind. Sue and Terry Comer served as co-chairs. I was invited to judge showmanship, along with Tom Younts. I enjoyed it so much that I stayed for the remainder of the show and the banquet. When I drove home, I knew that this was the event in which our girls would one day participate.

Lorene Snow invited me to Iowa the following year, in 1995, where I judged senior speeches, officiated the judging contest, and served as the associate showmanship judge. By that time, I was absolutely hooked.

Kentucky hosted the junior national in 2000. We had just moved to the Bluegrass state the previous year, and that was our first national junior heifer show. We haven’t missed once since.

Fourteen years ago, in August 2008, I was approached by three different Chiangus breeders, each of whom encouraged me to run for the ACA Board of Directors, representing the Southeast Region. It was the seat that was being vacated by Jill Boddicker Miller, who was concluding a six-year stint on the board.

The complexion of the ACA board was strikingly different in 2008 than it is in 2022. If elected, at age 51, I would be the board’s second youngest member. Additionally, I would be the only board member whose children were currently exhibiting in the national junior heifer show.

While I was very flattered to be asked, I wasn’t sure that the timing was right. Brittany was about to enter her freshman year at UK; Kelsey would be a junior in high school, and Laurel, still 10, would be a 6th grader in middle school.

I talked with a few friends who had also served on the Board to determine what the expectations and the time commitment would be, and to solicit their advice. One former board member offered this pearl of wisdom “If you’re not an alcoholic before you’re elected to the ACA Board of Directors, you will be when your term is finished.”

I talked with Nancy and the girls and eventually decided that I would run. John Woodroof was one of the three breeders who signed my petition. Before he signed it, he told me this: “I’ll be glad to sign your petition, but I want you to promise me two things. You’ll attend every meeting, and you’ll participate in the discussion.”

I ended up serving six years, laid out two years, then served another six. Over the course of the 12 years that I have served on the ACA Board, I can honestly say that I did not become an alcoholic, I attended every meeting held except one, and I believe that

I actively participated in discussion, except during the three years in which I served as chairman of the board.

People are motivated to serve on the boards of purebred breed associations for very different reasons. Some see it as an achievement, an honor bestowed upon master breeders. Some have specific goals they want to accomplish. Some have an axe to grind and want to “fix things.” Some have other motives. My motivation was different; I simply wanted to serve, to contribute, to make a difference, to help our association become stronger; I wanted to serve the organization and its membership.

Serving on the board of directors is a responsibility that should not be taken lightly; it is not for the faint of heart. The members often have very different perspectives and viewpoints, and this is exactly how it should be. But it is possible to disagree without being disagreeable. In the best of circumstances, everyone is transparent about their opinions, feelings, and perspectives. By understanding each other’s perspectives, the strongest decisions, in the best interests of the association and its membership, can be made.

One of the lessons that I learned during my second round of service on the ACA Board was that the most difficult decisions, those that still haunt me today, are those that are not “right versus wrong” … but “right versus right” (or “wrong versus wrong”) … depending upon one’s perspective.

The two most challenging decisions involved composite heifers and registering cattle by percentages versus fractions.

In the debate over showing composite heifers, the board was influenced by two key factors: economics and the pleadings of the junior board. The junior board met in conjunction with the ACA Board in the fall of 2020 at the office and asked to meet with us. They made an articulate and impassioned plea for the board to add a composite show at the national junior heifer show held in Oklahoma in 2021. At the time, the board was largely opposed to this idea. However, economics also came into play. The two primary revenue streams for the ACA (indeed, for any purebred livestock breed association) are registrations and memberships. The bottom line was that the revenue generated from the registrations of composite heifers, and the memberships sold to junior members would be useful for the association.

Of course, there was another important factor to consider. The primary responsibilities of a breed association include documenting the ancestry of animals through registrations and issuing pedigrees, as well as maintaining breed integrity and identity. I’m not sure that responsibility can be served by allowing cattle with less than 1/16 Chianina blood to be exhibited in our shows.

The other decision which caused great debate was in deciding if we would continue to register cattle by percentages or return to registering them by fractions.

Chianina cattle were originally registered by fractions. Previous articles have carefully explained the reasons why the change to percentages was made, and I won’t revisit that now. The premise was that laypeople mistakenly believe that when they purchase (for example) a purebred Simmental, that individual is 7/8 (or 87.5% Simmental blood). However, a “purebred” Simmental can be obtained by breeding a 7/8 bull to a ¾ female… resulting in a calf that is 81.25%, which is the loss of 6.25% Simmental blood in a single generation. Breeding that “purebred” bull to another ¾ blood female results in a purebred calf that is 78.125% Simmental blood…the loss of another 3.125% Simmental blood. In just two generations, the “purebred” blood has been eroded from 87.5% to 78.125%…and it only gets worse over time, because few breeders are using fullbloods to increase the purity of the blood in the breed.

Virtually every other breed association register by fractions; fractions seem to be accepted and understood. However, by registering cattle by percentages, the ACA can at least attest to the fact that our cattle are what we say they are. If a heifer is 12.5% Chianina blood…then that in fact is what she is… a 1/8 blood. While not the most accepted way of issuing registration certificates, it is the most accurate and true representation of breed make up.

The board has made many accomplishments of which I am very proud. When I first was elected to the board in 2008, our line of credit at the Platte Valley Bank was nearly $180,000. Stan Comer first began making $2,000 principal payments on the LOC and quarterly interest payments. While a $2,000 payment on a $180,000 loan might not seem like a lot, it amounted to $24,000 a year, and was $96,000 over four years. Andy Marston increased the principal payment to $3,000 a month. When Andy resigned, Jennifer and I decided to apply his entire salary to the LOC…in five months, the debt was finally retired.

After a 7-year absence, Heather Counts returned to the ACA as Editor of the Journal, and Director of Shows, Events, and Youth Activities. That was a tremendous accomplishment! In addition to an attractive, accurate, professional journal, our shows are well-run, and Heather is highly respected by show officials wherever we go. Perhaps most importantly, serving on the Junior Board has become prestigious again. We now have competitive elections for junior board members. Our young people want to serve on the AJCA Board of Directors.

We rented office space in the ACA Building, ensuring that

ACA BOARD OF DIRECTORS

our greatest fiscal asset was “earning its keep.”

We signed a long-term contract with the Black Hereford Association, adding another revenue stream, and ensuring full-time employment for our office staff.

We added a DNA Department, providing another service to our members.

After the retirement of Cheryl Minyard (who made a tremendous contribution to our association), Stephanie Snook returned to the ACA to coordinate memberships and ACA registrations. Stephanie is a self-starter and has made it her own personal mission to contact breeders whose membership has lapsed (many times, several years earlier) and encourage them to renew their membership. Our membership numbers have increased, due in large part to her attentive persistence.

Dustin Hurlbut joined the ACA staff half-time as Director of Marketing in the West in 2019. After a year, he expanded his role to three-quarter time, and assumed field man responsibilities for the entire nation. A year ago, Dustin accepted the CEO position that had been vacant for three years.

During the three-year interim in which the ACA was not served by a CEO, Jennifer Roach very capably ensured that the office operated smoothly and efficiently. Jennifer’s work ethic, and her extraordinary telephone and people skills have been invaluable to the image and operation of our association. Jennifer can (and does) answer any question pertaining to both the ACA as well as the Black Hereford Association.

Over the course of the past 14 years, I cannot think of a time in which the ACA was better served by a more capable, competent, service-oriented staff. They’re hard working, dedicated, efficient and honest.

One of the accomplishments of which I was the proudest was the creation of the Long Range Plan. In 2020, at the height of COVID, 32 people (including 10 board members) traveled to Kansas City, to participate in its development. The resulting plan was innovative, visionary, and provides a clear direction for the future of the ACA. I hope that the Board will continue to review its six objectives and make them priorities at meetings held over the next two years.

My service on the ACA Board has been an incredible journey. It has been a journey on which I have not traveled alone. On every step of the way, there have been board members, and especially officers, who shared the load, accepted responsibility, and helped ensure that the board made positive strides forward. To those stalwart board members, and to the ACA staff who served the association and its members, let me share my most heartfelt appreciation.

Finally, going back to the very beginning, one realizes the impact that family has on an individual’s long-term success and lifelong choices. I grew up in a family in which volunteerism and service were not only expected but were part of the very fabric of our family. Volunteerism and service are evidently part of our DNA, as all three of our daughters, Brittany, Kelsey, and Laurel, each served the association by serving on the junior board and promoting the breed as our national queen. Both Nancy and Kelsey have served on the Ladies Auxiliary Board; Kelsey currently serves as chairperson, is the Queen coordinator, and is a member of the Chiangus Classic Committee. My son-in-law, Derek, will begin his second term on the ACA Board in November.

Some people have indicated that there have been too many Culps involved. Perhaps that is be true; but anyone can step up and serve the association in a manner that utilizes their talents, skills, and resources. I would encourage each of you to do so. There will be challenges and frustrations, but serving the association provides a tremendous sense of accomplishment and strengthens the organization.

The ACA’s junior program and the ACA Ladies Auxiliary provided unparalleled opportunities for our daughters. I have tried to repay those debts in kind. The next generation is now following the trail blazed by their mother and aunts. You can be sure that I’ll be alongside, watching, cheering, and serving in a different role, as we travel this long way home, back to the beginning; back to the place where it all started…supporting our kids in the national junior heifer show.

Thanks for the memories, for the assistance and support and especially, thank you for the opportunity to serve.

It’s been both my privilege and pleasure to have served the ACA and its membership. For that, and for so much more, I will always be grateful. That’s the way I see it.

Editor’s Note: During his 12 years of service on the ACA Board of Directors, Ken served 5 years as Secretary, 3 years as President, and 2 years as Past-President.