By Emily Lochner If you ask any high school senior involved in showing cattle about their favorite stock show memory, they’ll likely rattle off show wins, showmanship successes and specific sales talk victories with impeccable detail. But, wait ten years and ask the now adults what their favorite stock show memory was and you’ll find the banners and buckles have faded in pride secondary to the people, the experiences and the life lessons that have directed the course of their lives. The funny thing is, the show ring gathers youth from across the country, but the life lessons are learned far beyond the out gate. Alan Smith, 28, Picayune, Mississippi “I know without a shadow of a doubt that my people skills, speaking skills, communication skills, work ethic and mental fortitude can all be attributed in large part to the Simmental and Simbrah summer classic shows,” states Alan Smith. He says he never missed a Mississippi State Fair, Dixie National, American Junior Simmental Association (AJSA) Regional or National Classic from 1999-2011. His favorite memory? Cramming into a ’95 model F-350 with his parents, Mark and Debbie, Alan Smith and family and sister, Jessica, putting miles on to the next show. “I have so many positive experiences from my four years on the AJSA Board of Trustees that I honestly couldn’t list them all. But one thing I will remember and love the most about it all, are the friends I made and the experiences I had. From white water rafting in Idaho, to the first AJSA Leadership Summit in Kansas City, I could write books about all the memories I cherish.” Having grown up around cattle, Alan was steeped in agriculture his whole life. “I always wanted to pursue something in the beef industry, but I also wanted to come back home to Mississippi to put down my roots.” In 2009, he attended Hinds Community College and became a captain of the football team as an offensive lineman. He then went on to Mississippi State University (MSU) to pursue a degree in animal science. And, in 2017 he graduated from MSU with a Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine. Three days after graduation, he began as a mixed animal veterinarian at Animal Health Clinic in Picayune, under the same local vet clinic he grew up with and interned. Alan recalls, “90 percent of what I do as a veterinarian is talk to people. Just like in sales talk and public speaking, three to seven minutes is all you get and sometimes it’s less than that. Because of my background in the AJSA I was steps ahead in most of my animal science classes than the average student. It was a tremendous advantage because it PAGE 20 Fall, 2019 • SIMBRAH World
provided such a strong foundation for my collegiate career and even now in my career in veterinary medicine.” During his tenure with Simbrah cattle, he accrued the AJSA Herdsman of the Year, served on the AJSA Board of Trustees and received the Silver and Gold Merit scholarships. The most important life lesson he learned is that “mistakes will be made and you’re not always going to win despite the fact you’ve busted your butt. Sometimes that’s just life. The real reward lies in the fact that you kept going, kept trying and kept fighting to be better.” In 2013, Alan married wife, Sara Catherine, and together they have two children, a son, Ross Alan, and daughter, Ella Catherine. “Being a dad to two awesome children and a husband to the most amazing wife has been the greatest blessing I have received,” he prides. Alan is actively involved as a member at the Serenity Baptist Church, Picayune Chamber of Commerce, Pearl River County Cattlemen’s Association and Mississippi Cattlemen’s Association. While they raise Simbrah cattle, he also has the privilege of taking part in embryo transfer programs for other Simbrah breeders. Alan says their long-range plan includes building a house and raising their children, hopefully raising quality cattle for them to exhibit. His career goal is to one day own his own veterinary clinic and continue to grow his beef cattle reproduction side of the practice through AI and ET. Josh Willey, 32, La Vernia, Texas “I started experiencing Simbrah shows at the age of five, when I would go to support my cousins, Stephen and Scott Willey, who were showing in the junior shows. In the summer of 1996, I started exhibiting our homegrown cattle and continued to show for 10 years in San Antonio, Houston, Austin and various prospect shows. Even as an adult I continue my passion exhibiting cattle in open shows.” It’s this Simbrah background as a young child that pushed Josh Willey, a 2010 Texas A&M
Josh Willey