Throwback Journal
OCTOBER 1970
On the cover, a call was issued, “We’ll give a free year’s subscription to the first member to call into the office with the correct identification of this herd of females and location.” Two months later, in the December 1970 Brangus Journal, it was announced that Owen Womack of Menard, Texas was the first to correctly identify the herd as Willow Springs Ranch of Burton, Texas. A revolutionary announcement came when executive secretary Roy W. Lilley wrote, “Dr. Marvin Koger, a geneticist at Florida University, has pointed out that phenotype (physical appearance) is a better indicator of genotype (the animal’s ability to pass on his own traits) than just blood percentage. This recognizes the fact there is some genetic drift within the 3/8 Brangus 5/8 Angus percentage of registered Brangus, and visual appraisal is necessary to keep the proper proportion of Brahman and Angus characteristics in succeeding generations of Brangus x Brangus crosses.”
72
October 2021
