Good work and keep it up.
That’s the general message from Chuck Grove, newly elected president and chairman of the American Angus Association Board of Directors, to the Angus membership. The longtime regional manager and Angus breeder from Forest, Va., says cattlemen are using the tools, and he looks forward to that trend continuing.
Looking forward to working with the newly elected Board of Directors, Grove notes that there are now 14 people who have two years of experience or less.
“I don’t look at that as a negative. We're going to have a lot of new, fresh, recent ideas to help propel us forward,” he says. “I want all the membership to feel free to contact myself or any member of the Board with their ideas, their thoughts, and we would welcome your criticism.”
To hear more from Grove, listen to the interview straight from the 2022 Angus Convention in Salt Lake City, Nov. 4-7, or read the full transcript below.
Miranda Reiman:
Dedication to the Angus breed — the newly elected chairman of the American Angus Association Board of Directors certainly has that. Hi, I’m Miranda Reiman with the Angus Journal team, and I recently caught up with Chuck Grove at the conclusion of the Annual Meeting and Convention of Delegates in Salt Lake City.
Hey Chuck.
Chuck Grove:
Hi.
Miranda Reiman:
Glad to have you on. You're not a stranger to the Angus breed by any means, but for those of those listening who might want to know, who is Chuck Grove, our new president, just tell us a little bit about yourself.
Chuck Grove:
Sure. I'm from Forest, Virginia, born and raised on a registered Angus farm there in Forest, graduate of Virginia Tech. Worked for the American Angus Association for 39 plus years as a regional manager. During that time, I also ran my own cows and for the last eight years I've been strictly in the Angus business.
Miranda Reiman:
Excellent. So long history in the breed.
Chuck Grove:
Yeah.
Miranda Reiman:
We're glad to have you on board.
Chuck Grove:
Thank you.
Miranda Reiman:
Let's talk about most recent current history though. What are some of the successes or biggest wins of the fiscal year that we just wrapped up?
Chuck Grove:
Well, I'm really proud that our membership continues to adapt to the technology that's out there. If memory serves me correctly, we had almost two thirds of our membership genomically test our animals. Also, along with that, obviously there was parentage verification and I think we should all be proud that our breed is more homozygous today, i.e. pure today than when George Grant brought them over originally. So I'm really, really proud of that and I think the board has worked together and done, taken up a lot of tough issues and we're moving forward.
Miranda Reiman:
When you talk about those numbers, I think that's a lot of confidence in the pedigrees, a lot of trust in the tools and the data that's there and that's exciting to everybody.
Chuck Grove:
Absolutely. And I also want to compliment the membership. There's a common thought that we're not getting enough phenotypic data, and that's really not true. We're about par with the previous year on the number of weights turned in. We're slightly down on ultrasound, but can't stress enough how important it is for the membership to continue to turn in that phenotypic data because the genomic information is only as good as the phenotypic data we get turned in.
Miranda Reiman:
Absolutely. Now, looking ahead to the year that's before us, what are you most looking forward to or things that you'll be discussing?
Chuck Grove:
Well, I'm really excited. From a tenure time, we have a very young board. We'll have 14 people in there with two years of experience or less, but I don't look at that as a negative. We're going to have a lot of new, fresh, recent ideas to help propel us forward. I also want to say that I think I want all the membership to feel free to contact myself or any member of the board with their ideas, their thoughts, and we would welcome your criticism. When I say that I want a solution, it's easy to stand on the sideline and throw rocks if you don't like something, but give us a solution if you think we're doing something wrong or we can improve something.
Miranda Reiman:
I think you probably already answered my next question, which was going to be how do you as a member, how do you get involved?
Chuck Grove:
I would highly encourage the membership, number one, get involved with your local association, your state association, come to the convention, try to become a delegate. For all the educational, for all the greatest things that happen at this convention, the most important thing that happens year after year after year is the election of your leadership and you're selecting the people that are going to guide this breed in the future. So I would highly encourage everyone to become as involved in that part of it as well.
Miranda Reiman:
Excellent. Any closing thoughts as we wrap up Angus Convention?
Chuck Grove:
Yeah. I want to thank the outgoing president, Jerry Connealy. He did a marvelous job. His leadership, his sincerity, his direction is going to be sorely missed. We are going to depend on him some in the future or a lot in the future I should say. And additionally, I want to thank the service of the retiring board members. They did an outstanding job. I had the pleasure to work with them for six years and I really appreciate their service and dedication.
Miranda Reiman:
Absolutely. For more coverage from Angus Convention, be sure to visit angusjournal.net and subscribe today.