Angus Journal

Angus Journal The Angus Journal is the primary source of information for Angus cattlemen and women.

As he stands at the highest point on his operation today, David Hunter can point out the thin strip of pavement in the d...
08/07/2025

As he stands at the highest point on his operation today, David Hunter can point out the thin strip of pavement in the distance where the lights of cars on the highway shine at night. When the sun is high, he can direct attention to a mountain, visible on the horizon despite being three counties over.

As he drives through the pastures of Hunter Farms today, he can reach down and snag a handful of grass. Hunter can sort through clover, Kentucky 31 fescue and “weeds” (any plant life he doesn’t want in the field) — just by sight alone. He can tell you exactly what changes he would make to the forage mix, perfecting the ratio internally for his Angus herd.

Most would see it as a talent. For him, it’s just every day work.

“I’ve always been a farmer,” Hunter says. “I graduated high school with a third-grade education because I sat and looked out the window all the time — wondering what dad was doing.”

Read about the Hunters' focus on land management and rotational grazing here: https://www.angus.org/angus-media/angus-journal/2025/08/in-tune

Rick Mindemann always knew he wanted a farm of his own, but that 10-year-old boy from Sussex, Wis., could never have ant...
07/30/2025

Rick Mindemann always knew he wanted a farm of his own, but that 10-year-old boy from Sussex, Wis., could never have anticipated the path that led him there. In 2025, Mindemann Farms celebrates 35 years in The Business Breed, a boyhood dream turned reality.

From a young Marine who returned home and built a trucking company, to raising a family and discovering a love for Angus cattle, the chapters of Mindemann’s story are a testament to the value of hard work and selfless service.

Rick and his wife, Leslie, raised three sons on their operation in Sullivan, Wis. — Jason, Aric and Andy — and it remains a family affair today. The Mindemanns work together to farm around 1,800 acres of corn, soybeans, hay and pasture. They offer registered Angus bulls and females for sale annually, and the farm’s freezer beef program markets about 125 steers a year.

In addition to off-farm jobs, Aric and Andy remain involved in the operation. Both have their own herds, raising cattle with their wives and children. Rick and Leslie’s six grandchildren also embrace this way of life.

“Every one of them works on the farm from driving tractors to calving cows,” Rick says. “Everybody is involved — it’s a family operation.”

The salutes Rick Mindemann and his family for their service to the country and their dedication to the beef industry. Click here to read more: https://www.angus.org/angus-media/angus-journal/2025/07/salute-to-service/a-dream-come-true

Before Nick Umbarger found himself deployed halfway across the world in the jungles of Malaysia, he spent his childhood ...
07/29/2025

Before Nick Umbarger found himself deployed halfway across the world in the jungles of Malaysia, he spent his childhood on his family’s ranch in Powell Butte, Ore. Started by his father, Mike, in 1988, Flying U Angus Ranch served as a valuable teacher. Umbarger quickly learned there was always either something to be done or something to be fixed as the operation produced bulls to market up and down the West Coast.

Upon graduating high school, Umbarger felt ready to leave the ranch and discover more. He began pursuing an animal science degree at Montana State University, then felt a tug to shift directions.

A self-proclaimed adventure-seeker in search of something bigger than himself, Umbarger says he always knew he would regret not joining the Marine Corps.

"I just felt a calling to serve a purpose higher than myself," he says.

In 2016 Umbarger joined the infantry as a machine gunner. He served two deployments in the Pacific, his first taking him to Okinawa, Japan; the Philippines; and Malaysia. He says his eyes were quickly opened as they traveled to poverty-stricken areas; sights like people washing clothes in the ocean reminding him how much some take for granted.

The salutes Nick Umbarger and his family for their service to the country and their dedication to the beef industry. Click here to read more: https://www.angus.org/angus-media/angus-journal/2025/07/salute-to-service/something-bigger

07/28/2025

Congratulations to our editorial intern Jenna Whitaker! She was announced as the 2025 Forrest Bassford Scholarship recipient during this year’s Ag Media Summit.

Dale Cunningham lives by a simple rule: when you give up, you fail. This wisdom, rooted in generational grit, has guided...
07/28/2025

Dale Cunningham lives by a simple rule: when you give up, you fail. This wisdom, rooted in generational grit, has guided Cunningham, a United States Army veteran and owner of Cunningham Ranch, through his decades of ranching and decorated life.

Cunningham’s upbringing mirrors many in the cattle industry — raised on family land in Oklahoma with memories of long days of building fence and views of open pastures filled with cattle. At just 20 years old, the Vietnam War pulled him from pasture to platoon, with the military draft abruptly thrusting him into adulthood.

After brief stateside training, Cunningham received duty appointment in Vietnam, as a Military Occupational Specialty in depot-level aircraft maintenance. From 1970 to 1971, he longed for breezy summer days in the Oklahoma sun as he endured the elements Vietnam presented.

“Vietnam has two seasons, hot and wet or hot and dry,” Cunningham recalls. “In peak monsoon season, it rained so hard it roared. You could stand there three feet from somebody, yell at them and they wouldn’t hear it.”

As the grueling days persisted, only with sparing ham radio calls to those back home, Cunningham stayed focused on his goal — returning home to the family operation.

The salutes Dale Cunningham and his family for their service to the country and their dedication to the beef industry. Read more: https://www.angus.org/angus-media/angus-journal/2025/07/salute-to-service/work-so-hard-it-roars

What do the tight interior of an Army tank and a Pennsylvania milking parlor have in common? For Fred Tiffany, they both...
07/22/2025

What do the tight interior of an Army tank and a Pennsylvania milking parlor have in common? For Fred Tiffany, they both represent his life before creating Bullard Creek Cattle in Litchfield, Pa.

Tiffany was a 19 kilo, which is a tanker, on an M1A1 Abrams tank. He deployed to Iraq in June 2005 to June 2006 — a hostile period. He was stationed at a base called Habbaniyah and served as main supply route security. In 12-hour shifts, they patrolled stretches of the highway for IEDs or roadside bombs, so supplies could move from one base to the next.

Tiffany says his tour to Afghanistan was more laid back.

“When we were deployed to Afghanistan, we were part of what they called a provincial reconstruction team (PRT), which would go into the communities of Afghanistan and delegate projects or allocate money that needed to be spent in the community, like building hospitals. We were the security force for the PRT,” he explains.

Tiffany shared both of these tours with his older brother, Andrew, though Fred joined the military first. While he admits it was nice to have a piece of home during his tours, it was time to plant some roots.

The salutes Fred Tiffany and his family for their service to the country and their dedication to the beef industry. Read more about their story: https://www.angus.org/angus-media/angus-journal/2025/07/salute-to-service/from-tanks-to-pastures

After more than 20 years as a career Army officer, Leamon Bratton returned to his home state of Tennessee to build somet...
07/21/2025

After more than 20 years as a career Army officer, Leamon Bratton returned to his home state of Tennessee to build something entirely new: a beef cattle operation.

Today, he runs Bratton Angus Ranch in Woodlawn, Tenn., raising high-quality, Angus cattle with the same discipline and pride that defined his military service.

“He’s one of those unsung heroes in our country,” says retired Col. Mike Galloucis, a longtime colleague and fellow Army officer. “Guys like Leamon have a highly successful military career and then go into a whole new field having nothing to do with the military, and they excel. That’s rare.”

The salutes Leamon Bratton and his family for their service to the country and their dedication to the beef industry. Read more here: https://www.angus.org/angus-media/angus-journal/2025/07/salute-to-service/service-stewardship-and-sirloin

In the late ’90s at the Bahrain International Airport, roaring plane engines break the silence. Navy airmen, having just...
07/17/2025

In the late ’90s at the Bahrain International Airport, roaring plane engines break the silence. Navy airmen, having just wrapped up their preflight meeting, board a P-3 Orion, a fixed-wing surveillance aircraft. This melting pot of men and women from all walks of life and parts of the country are united, working shoulder to shoulder to complete the day’s surveillance mission.

A world away, on a ranch near Denton, Mont., the early morning hours are met with a ranch family pouring their coffee to begin another day working the land, like they had been doing for nearly a century.

This is where two worlds of tradition, grit and determination collide for Cory Poser of Hilltop Angus Ranch. Growing up on the ranch instilled a work ethic his journey after college would soon require.

“In the back of my mind, I was always thinking I should have gone to the Navy,” he recalls. “One day I just said, ‘[To] heck with it, I’m going to do it.'"

This pivotal moment would shape his next seven years and beyond while serving his country as a Navy airman, before returning to the family ranch in 2003. The salutes Cory Poser and his family for their service to the country and their dedication to the beef industry. Read more about their story: https://www.angus.org/angus-media/angus-journal/2025/07/salute-to-service/a-common-thread

Stationed in Hawaii, former Navy SEALs Greg Putnam and Tim Sheehy built a friendship on a foundation of shared interests...
07/10/2025

Stationed in Hawaii, former Navy SEALs Greg Putnam and Tim Sheehy built a friendship on a foundation of shared interests. But there was one constant drumbeat to their conversations: a plan for postmilitary life. Both were driven to find careers that offered the same sense of purpose they experienced during their service. They met in 2012, and while neither came from traditional production agriculture backgrounds, they discovered they both had a dream of one day owning cattle.

Nearly five years ago, the dream became a reality as Little Belt Cattle Co was born. The salutes these two veterans and their families for their service to the country and their dedication to the beef industry.

Read more about their operation here: https://www.angus.org/angus-media/angus-journal/2025/07/salute-to-service/chasing-parallels

Now that our team is back from a whirlwind week in Tulsa, we're proud to introduce you to our 2025 editorial intern! Jen...
07/08/2025

Now that our team is back from a whirlwind week in Tulsa, we're proud to introduce you to our 2025 editorial intern! Jenna Whitaker comes to Angus Media from Moses Lake, Wash. Although not raised on a farm or ranch, Whitaker grew up surrounded by a farming community that cultivated her love for telling the stories of agriculturalists.

“Getting to use my passion to write for a publication like the is a dream come true,” she says. “I’m excited to contribute to meaningful stories that honor the legacy of the Angus breed and the hardworking people behind it.”

This fall, Whitaker is entering her final semester at the University of Idaho, where she is studying agricultural science, communications and leadership with a minor in animal science.

Meet the rest of this year's intern crew here: https://www.angus.org/angus-media/angus-journal/2025/06/aaa-interns

If you call the agriculture industry home, you know there’s weight to the work you do; and in the cattle business, it ta...
07/07/2025

If you call the agriculture industry home, you know there’s weight to the work you do; and in the cattle business, it takes a special kind of strength to survive. But this July, we’re recognizing those who’ve dug a little deeper, to make sure the land we call home is protected. This July, we salute the service of veterans, active-duty members and the families who carry the weight of the American legacy.

This is for you — the strong, the brave, the proud, the free. We’re proud to be Angus, and we’re proud to be American. The salutes you.

Stories in this special section feature Leamon Bratton, Tennessee Angus Association, Little Belt Cattle Co, Montana Angus Association; Fred Tiffany, Bullard Creek Cattle, Pennsylvania; Adam Jordan, Cedar Ridge Angus, Tennessee Angus Association; Rick Mindemann, Wisconsin Angus Association; Cory Poser, Hilltop Angus Ranch, Montana; Nick Umbarger, Flying U Angus Ranch, Oregon Angus Association; Dale Cunningham, Cunningham Ranch, Oklahoma Angus Association; Paul Hill, Champion Hill, Washington; and Operation BBQ Relief with Certified Angus Beef ® brand's chef Michael Ollier.

A special thank you to our sponsor for this section, Vermeer Agriculture. Follow our page for future coverage of each individual story, or read all the articles here: https://www.angus.org/angus-media/angus-journal/2025/05/salute-to-service-homepage

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The Angus Journal traces its roots to 1919, where it began in Webster City, Iowa. In 1979 the American Angus Association purchased the magazine to be its flagship publication. This tradition continues today as the Angus Journal contains more pages of quality editorial content and breeding advertising than any other cattle publication. Boasting 13,000 paid subscribers, it’s the primary source for the latest information about beef cattle herd management, genetics, research and cutting-edge technology. No publication offers a more comprehensive look at the industry while providing optimal touch points for seedstock advertising.