On January 13th, members of the Indiana Beef Cattle Association (IBCA) gathered at the Sheraton Hotel for the 2024 IBCA Annual Convention. During the convention, members heard from multiple guest speakers on issues pertaining to the beef industry. To wrap up the event, members attended the annual awards dinner and banquet to celebrate this year’s award winners.
The Robert C. Peterson Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Randy Cates of Cates Farms in Modoc, Indiana. Cates Farms had their first cattle production sale in the early 1980’s. Today, Cates Farms has exhibited over 20 National Champion or Reserve National Champion Females and more than 15 National Champion or Reserve Champion bulls. The common theme behind these proud accomplishments is hard work and customer appreciation.
The IBCA Outstanding Cattleman Award was presented to Stan Armstrong, a fifth-generation cattle farmer and a 1966 graduate of Purdue University. Mr. Armstrong is the active foreman of Spring Creek Cattle Company, which focuses on raising efficient, healthy Angus and Angus Simmental cross cattle. Mr. Armstrong’s stated goals are producing excellent replacement heifers and producing feedlot yearlings that perform at the high end of the feed conversion, grade and yield spectrum.
The IBCA Outstanding Young Cattleman Award was presented to Chad Burcham, the owner and manager of Blue River BEEF in Salem, Indiana. Chad is very self-motivated, constantly searching for ways to be more efficient and to improve the farming operation. The lengthy list of improvements he has made to the operation in just three years is impressive. He also enjoys participating in Purdue Extension and other educational programs to learn new practices to put into action on the farm.
The IBCA Friend of the Beef Industry Award was presented to Mark Valentine and Valentine Feed and Supply. Valentine Feed and Supply is a tremendous supporter of IBCA activities. In recent years, Valentine Feed and Supply has been gracious enough to provide a cattle chute and scales for use at Hoosier Beef Congress to weigh all the steers. They have also been a cornerstone vendor in our Hoosier Beef Congress Trade Show.
Also at the convention, the IBCA membership elected officers for 2024-2025. The new officers approved by the membership were: President- Kelley Sheiss of Larwill, President-Elect-Keegan Poe of Franklin, Vice President- Dr. David Dixon of Rensselaer, Treasurer- Andrew Stewart of Greensburg, and Immediate Past President – Jeff Sherfield of Spencer.
The IBCA Board of Directors is made up of 10 Area Directors as well as representatives from dairy, veal and allied industries. These local producer leaders serve on the board for the IBCA as well as the Indiana Beef Council (IBC) to manage the collection and allocation of the Beef Checkoff.
Source: Indiana Beef Cattle Association
