PRESIDENT’S PERSPECTIVE
A Season of Thanks by Allen Goode, International Brangus Breeders Association (IBBA) president
As you receive your November Brangus Journal, we are entering the time that invites reflection of the calendar behind us and the time for outlook to the turning of the annuals from year to the next. Our daily business and personal lives are fast paced. But there is the spirit in the air at this time that provides a little pause to stop, or slow down, and give thanks. From this perspective, I want to begin by giving thanks for the individuals immediately in our breed. Thanks to our members for their commitment of their lives and business to the Brangus breed. To the ones that keep our breed advancing our volunteers, committee members, and leadership including the senior and junior Board of Directors and committee chairs. Together, we have accomplished much this year, and will continue to with the shared goal advancing our cattle and telling the industry about our product. I am so thankful for the IBBA team in the home office. We have become, and will continue to be, a multi-faceted growing breed association. Thank you, Dr. Wilkes, and each IBBA team member. I am thankful for our Brangus, Red Brangus, and Ultra cattle. They are the basis for our businesses and hopefully some enjoyment in what we do. They have the production attributes that are needed in the cattle business. They have the product attributes, i.e. carcass merit, that is required for profitability and acceptance in the beef industry and ultimately the beef consumer. Two initiatives have been launched this year that can lift our trajectory of growth. One is the Brangus Vigor tagging program that you have been
hearing about. The second is the Brangus Value Project. The production and quality data that this study will yield will be the basis for our story to the value chain in the beef industry. There is more information about this here in the Brangus Journal. I personally invite and encourage each of you as Brangus breeders and IBBA members to invest alongside one another in this research project. There will be data benefits for us all, and benefits for your culinary pleasure as well as a supporter. Check out the details further in. I am thankful for the technological advancements in our industry that enable us to breed and produce a better animal, even than just a year ago. The scientific fields of genetics, genomics, reproduction, and nutrition are fascinating. Their new findings are enabling our industry, and our Brangus breed within it, to achieve levels of efficiency, quality, and profitability not experienced in previous generations. All of this has led to a record and banner year in the demand, acceptance, and quest for Brangus, Red Brangus, and Ultra cattle and genetics. And for this, I know we are all thankful! Of course, this does not mean our daily agendas are slowing down. Our business and personal schedules remain as fast paced as anytime in the year. In the next two months, we will discuss more about the outlook and plans for 2022 and beyond and how the IBBA will continue to evolve to provide you the services and tools you need for your Brangus business. For now, on behalf of the IBBA Board of Directors, I wish you and your families a very happy and reflective season of thanks.
I AM THANKFUL FOR OUR BRANGUS, RED BRANGUS, AND ULTRA CATTLE. THEY ARE THE BASIS FOR OUR BUSINESSES AND HOPEFULLY SOME ENJOYMENT IN WHAT WE DO.
8
October 2021
