REGION I


Fred Nessler
Sherman, Ill.
Wife, Elaine; daughters, Martha and Elizabeth; sons, Jon, Matt and Thomas Fred Nessler and his family own and operate Fancy Creek Farm. Fred has served as both a board member and past president of the American Maine-Anjou Association (AMAA). He also served as a past president of the Illinois Maine-Anjou Association (IMAA).

Fred became involved in his family livestock operation with his grandfather when he bought his first Hampshire sow at the age of seven. Their operation grew to include Hereford cattle, 30 milk cows and Duroc and Hampshire hogs. He was president of his 4-H club and FFA chapter and also received his State Farmer degree with his swine proficiency in 1968. He received his
Bachelors Degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Illinois and his Juris Doctorate from Chicago Kent College of Law. He continued to raise cattle and hogs after graduation and bought his first Maine-Anjou cattle in 1989.

He turned to Maine-Anjou cattle after acquiring a small herd of club calf cows. His best cows were percentage and half blood Maine- Anjou. The excellent growth and disposition of their calves prompted Fred to research the Maine-Anjou breed. After learning of Maine's success in the showring and their marketability, Fred became committed to the breed.

“Maine-Anjou offer a unique combination of mothering ability, disposition and terrific growth numbers,” says Fred. “They are extremely versatile and adaptable to both the pasture and the showring.”

Fred says if the beef producing community can be properly educated about the positive attributes of Maine-Anjou cattle, their potential is unlimited.

To be economically viable, Fred says the breed must establish a solid commercial base. The breed needs to promote commercial bull sales and the sale of F1 replacement females for the commercial producer.

“Once the commercial producer has first-hand experience with the production and growth attributes of the Maine-Anjou breed, they will be return customers,” says Fred. “We must also continue to emphasize the comparison rating given to us by the showring. This lends a large plus to the breed because of their appeal to the junior club calf breeder and exhibitor. If the breed can maintain a level of consistency in commercial marketing strategies, showring success and viable production numbers, our breed can establish a dominant place in the purebred beef industry of North America.”


Ryan Mattocks
Guys Mills,
Pennsylvania
Wife, Lisa; son, Lucas; daughter, Emily

Ryan and Lisa Mattocks, along with their two children, Emily, seven, and Lucas, four, own Sugar Creek Cattle Company. Late in the `80s, Ryan and his brothers started using Maine-Anjou AI sires on their commercial cows to produce better 4-H projects.

“We liked the cattle so well, especially from a disposition standpoint, that we purchased our first Maine breeding stock from the late Mike McClintic in 1990,” says Ryan.

Other purchases followed from breeders like Oran Wolfe, Larry Lind and Bill Willers.

Sugar Creek Cattle Company, located two hours north of Pittsburgh, Pa., runs a small herd of 20 Maine-Anjou, MaineTainer and Angus cows. Brothers Adam, Alex and Dustin, along with their father, Larry, also raise Maine-Anjou cattle and are collectively known as Mattocks Maines. Most sales are transacted through private treaty, but Sugar Creek has been successfully marketing cattle at the Ohio Beef Expo each year.

“I believe there are many issues that challenge our breed as a whole,” says Ryan. “Certainly we as a breed need to continue to improve on our data sets and accuracies on EPDs.”

Ryan also says it is important for breeders to continue to report accurate, statistical information as well as any genetic defects they may see.

“Genetic defects, PHA in particular, need to be dealt with in a timely manner,” says Ryan. “I believe that this issue, combined with the battle we have always struggled with, 'we are only a show breed,' could be very devastating if not curtailed hastily.”

Ryan says continued improvement in birth weights, fleshing ability, structural soundness and udder quality are other issues of concern.

To elevate the perception of Maine-Anjou cattle within the beef industry, Mattocks says increased advertising to target markets to show the Maine-Anjou value would be beneficial. Additionally, continued research and data gathering would prove the Maine-Anjou value to cattlemen. Ryan believes dealing quickly with genetic defects and honestly dealing with the breeds problems.

Ryan says increased contact with larger commercial producers from the AMAA office (farm visits) would aid in selling the benefits of Maine-Anjou. “The best way to improve our breed perception still remains - every breeder doing a better job of telling our story — telling of the Maine-Anjou benefits,” says Ryan.

“The Maine-Anjou breed has many positive qualities that we can offer the commercial cattle industry. Working together as an association, with every breeder doing their part, we can overcome the obstacles that challenge us today for a better breed in the future.”

REGION II


Marty Van Vliet
Otley, Iowa
Wife, Teresa; daughters, Chloe and Cada

Marty Van Vliet farms 2,000 acres of row crops and runs approximately 125 cows with his father, Tom. He got his start in the Maine-Anjou breed in 1980 with a purchase from Flying Dutchman Ranch. The Van Vliet’s have exhibited cattle throughout the U.S. and Canada. Their highlights include grand champions in Denver, Kansas City, Houston and Canada’s Agribition. They also raised the 1998 Gold Standard Grand Champion bull in Denver and have been recognized as AMAA National Breeder of the Year.

When asked what important issues face the breed, Marty replied, “First and foremost, the genetic disorder problem needs to be addressed and dealt with so we can continue to tackle our goal of a greater share of the commercial market.”

Marty also says getting more hard data for the breed's EPD records is a must to stay even with competitors for bull buyers. He also says Maine- Anjou breeders need to help producers identify their markets and to successfully fit into their market.

To elevate the perception of the Maine-Anjou breed in today’s beef industry, Marty believes in taking a positive informational approach to  the immediate problems and dealing with them quickly. He also believes in continued breed promotion with emphasis on data collected. Marty
says the breed should continue to work to make cattle more uniform and to market Maine-Anjou with high integrity both at high profile events and at home.

REGION III

Mark Beauprez
Byers, Colo.
Wife, Lisa; son, Nicholas; daughter, Megan

Mark Beauprez was raised on a livestock farm in eastern Colorado. He started buying Maine cross cows for his 4-H projects. He was pleased with their performance and started his own purebred herd. Mark has traveled across the U.S. and Canada to promote and show Maine-Anjou cattle.

Mark says the most important issue facing the breed is PHA and determining how future progeny will affected by this issue. Additional concerns for Mark are continued work toward establishing a solid commercial market as well as emphasizing the importance of performance data to other Maine-Anjou breeders.

“We need to emphasize the strong maternal traits of the breed and continue improving the quality of beef,” says Mark. “The public only hears about the negative factors of the beef industry and it’s our responsibility as a breed association to promote the positives of the beef industry.”

AT-LARGE

Jerry Adamson
Cody, Neb.
Wife, Delores; Todd; son, Taylor; daughter, Tonya and son-in-law, Eric Stover

Jerry Adamson runs a family ranch operation in Cody, Neb. Rocking J Ranch has been ran by five generations of the Adamson family. Most of the 2,500 cows ran on four ranches at Rocking J have Maine-Anjou influence. 2006 will mark Rocking J’s 34th annual club calf sale. In the past ten years, Rocking J has raised steers that have won Ak-Sar-Ben, Illinois State Fair, Iowa State Fair and Indiana State Fair.

Jerry has served 16 years on the local high school board of directors. He is a director for their local bank and president of the rural fire district. Jerry will commence his second term as Cherry County Commissioner in January. He is a past Nebraska cattlemen of the year and is the only Nebraskan to have been selected Commercial Cattleman of the Year by the Beef Improvement Federation.

Jerry says the most important issue facing the Maine-Anjou breed is continued development of commercial acceptance of the breed.
 
“The breed needs to continue to improve carcass traits and make cattle ‘user friendly’,” says Jerry.

He says continued selection to make cattle moderate framed, easyfleshing, polled, black and good dispositioned while moderating birth weights will help the breed's commercial acceptability.

“Our new generation of commercial cattlemen do not possess the cowboy skills the past generations did, nor are they willing to devote time to their cow herds as their forefathers did,” says Jerry.

To elevate the perception of the Maine-Anjou breed within the beef industry, Jerry believes educating commercial cattlemen on the breed’s advantages is a must. Jerry says, “Many commercial cattlemen perceive Maines to be just show cattle. The breed needs to drive the message home that this is a misconception!”

AT-LARGE

Fred DeRouchey
Mitchell, S.D.
Wife, Joan; son, Jon; son, Joel and daughter-in-law, Jolene and grandchildren, James and Jenna; son Jeff and daughter-in-law, Susan

Fred DeRouchey has been raising Maine-Anjou cattle since 1993. He has a life-long passion for producing superior quality breeding stock. His business is devoted exclusively to cattle production. Fred has developed a powerful cowherd through the use of AI, embryo transfer, performance data, carcass information, EPDs and GeneStar testing for tenderness. DeRouchey Cattle Company maintains a core herd of 180 cows and 150 recipient cows. Bull and heifers are sold in their annual February bull sale and by private treaty throughout the year.

The DeRouchey’s are enthusiastic about the Maine-Anjou breed. Fred says Maine-Anjou genetics are marketable to all aspects of the cattle industry. This includes the show calf business, seedstock producers and commercial cattlemen.

“The potential for raising tremendous steers, bulls and heifers, including MaineTainer heifers is unlimited,” says Fred. “Maine's maternal traits, calm disposition and productivity are combined with balance, performance and carcass merit.”

Fred served on the AMAA Board of Directors from 1998-2004. He feels his experience on the board and acquaintances with many fellow breeders will help him provide leadership and a continued positive direction for the growth of the breed. As an AMAA director, Fred feels representing the ideas of all the Maine breeders is a priority. He will do his best to assure that you are given equal voice and opportunities whether you are a junior or adult member, whether you register one head or thousands of Maine-Anjou cattle.

Fred also believes in maintaining a strong junior program. He was awarded with the 2004 Maine Helper Award from the American Junior Maine-Anjou Association.

Fred wants to say thank you to the Maine-Anjou membership for their friendship and consideration.