The Oklahoma Angus Association unanimously endorses Roger Wann as a candidate for the American Angus Association Board of Directors. Roger is a native of Poteau, Okla., and was raised on a multigenerational family commercial cow-calf ranch. The early breed makeup of the family ranch did not include Angus. After a purchase of a dozen commercial Angus cows from a family relative and the addition of an Angus bull from Belle Point Ranch in Lavaca, Ark., the benefits of Angus genetics became clear and a direction was set.

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While a student at Oklahoma State University (OSU), Roger was an employee at Oklahoma Beef Inc. (OBI), a multibreed central test facility. Charles McPeake oversaw OBI at the time. The performance and marketability of the Angus bulls impressed Roger a great deal. Later he would be a student worker at the OSU Purebred Beef Center under Bob Kropp. The value of the Angus cow herd at OSU was the last step in a learning curve that would lead him and his family into the Angus seedstock business.

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After completing a bachelor’s degree in animal science at OSU, Roger earned a master’s in physiology of reproduction from Texas A&M (TAMU) under Ron Randel. Upon realizing that continuing to pursue a career in academics could lead him farther away from a cow than he wanted, Roger left TAMU to begin a career with ABS Global in 1988. His interests and focus for the last 34 years have been to assist and teach cattle producers the value of efficient reproductive management programs. Roger has worked extensively to continue the focus in efficient reproduction across Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas, with additional duties from 2003 to 2008 in Georgia, Florida and Alabama.

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Roger; his brother, Danny; and their dad, Jim, began the process of converting the family commercial ranch to an Angus seedstock operation in 1989. They hosted their first production sale in 2003, and this past spring marked their 20th annual production sale. Wann Ranch currently ranks No. 10 in the state of Oklahoma for registrations and markets 120 to 140 bulls annually. Roger and Danny are very hands-on with the operation of the family ranch. They are responsible for all the AI, forage management, herd health, data submission, calf registrations and management of their production sale. Wann Ranch also received the Oklahoma Beef Council’s Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) Ranch of the Year award in 2014.

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Wann has just completed a term on the board of directors for the Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association (OCA). He has also served six years on the production policy committee for OCA. He was instrumental in leading discussions concerning new policy as well as the decision to renew or amend expiring policy.

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Roger is the current vice president of the Oklahoma Angus Association. He, along with Angus regional manager, Jeff Mafi, and fellow Angus breeder, Mark Sexton, have been instrumental in the development of the Oklahoma Angus-sponsored Angus feeder-calf sale. This premier event has been hosted at Oklahoma National Stockyards, and has successfully showcased the value of Angus genetics with emphasis being placed on the additional value of AngusLink verification. As he takes the reins of the Oklahoma Angus Association (OAA) next March, Roger will continue the efforts of OAA to provide marketing and educational opportunities to members and customers while streamlining and focusing the operational processes of the state association.

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The American Angus Association as well as its member breeders are the definitive leaders of the industry today. The primary reason for Roger’s American Angus Association board candidacy is to provide blue-collar, grassroots viewpoints concerning all issues ,with the goal of keeping the Angus breed at the forefront of the industry.