CARE Certified

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Non-Hormone Treated Cattle & Verified Natural are NOT required in order to be approved.

A positive way to communicate your story and your commitment to caring for your animals, the environment and your community.

Members Seek Leadership Positions to Lead Breed

cuses on promotional equine images, as well as sessions for those who are involved in the horse and ranching lifestyle.

They have three children – Lane, Carson and Henley. Carson and Henley enjoy showing Red Angus heifers at the major shows and being very involved in all ranching aspects from feeding, breeding and learning about maintaining a registered herd.

The Ballinger family also raises performance and cow-bred Quarter Horses and have been a recognized breeder with AQHA since 1998. They prefer using horses for working cattle, and the kids enjoying showing them as well. Ballingers are members of RAAA, AAA, TRAA, TSCRA, NCBA and AQHA.

They have been blessed in so many ways to enjoy this lifestyle of raising the livestock they love along with their family and friends. Their motto is, “Proven, balanced genetics for the commercial cattlemen.”

Candidate for Area 7 – Northeast

Rob Hess

Rob Hess of Hershey, Pennsylvania, is seeking re-election to the Board for Area 7 – Northeast.

Rob and Amy

Hess own and operate Bow Creek Farm with their son, Levi, and daughter, Anna. The Hesses purchased their first Red Angus cattle in 2005. They expected the endeavor into the cowcalf operation to be a hobby or parttime experience. It wasn’t until 2010 that Hess recognized the potential to create a local beef brand dedicated to promoting the positive traits of the Red Angus breed.

In 2010, the Hesses began retailing beef. Shortly thereafter, they conducted a test with The Hotel Hershey, a four-star resort featuring four onsite restaurants. The chefs were impressed with the consistent quality of Red Angus beef and the Hesses have now retained that business for several years, providing 40 animals annually.

They’ve since constructed an on-farm store, added additional restaurants and are a vendor at a local farmers market.

Bow Creek Farm focuses the majority of their time and resources on their seedstock and beef program which currently direct markets between 60 to 70 animals annually.

The Hesses decided that to be profitable in their geographic location, Red Angus had to be the cornerstone of their business.

Every decision at Bow Creek centers around Red Angus seedstock and beef. Bow Creek utilizes AI and ET to improve the quality of their breeding animals. They sell a small number of registered bulls each year, some to local BQA certified breeders so calves can be sourced back for Bow Creek’s beef business.

The Hesses retain most seedstock-quality heifers to grow their herd.

Hess’ experience in communicating with beef procurement personnel, government agencies, PSU Extension and regularly working with the Pennsylvania Beef Council, as well as the Northeast Beef Promotion Initiative, will complement and bring diversity to the RAAA Board of Directors.

While he is committed to all current RAAA objectives and values, he feels there is an opportunity to increase demand for the breed in the Northeast by better understanding the consumer and continuing to qualify Red Angus cattle for additional branded beef programs.

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Members Seek Leadership Positions to Lead Breed

Candidate for Area 9 - Midwest

Will Andras

Will Andras of Manchester, Illinois, is seeking the director position for Area 9-Midwest.

Will is a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, husband to Kim and dad to Peri (19) and Peyton (16).

Andras, along with his wife and parents, Steve and Theresa Andras, owns and operates Andras Stock Farm. Will represents the sixth generation of his family to raise registered cattle on the home farm in Manchester, Illinois.

The Andras family settled in Manchester in the 1830s. Although the family ran cattle on the Illinois prairie from the start, their purebred operation began in earnest in 1898, with registered Hereford cattle.

The Andras Hereford operation, known as Daylesford Farms, grew to prominence throughout the early decades of the 20th century. The family’s cattle were exhibited nationwide (traveling by rail), achieving success at notable shows like Fort Worth, Denver, Kansas City and Chicago.

In 1985, Will purchased his first Red Angus heifer from Rex and Joann James (Iowa). He soon became enamored with the Red Angus breed and its breeders, and the Andras Red Angus program was born.

In 1997, he graduated with an animal science degree from Oklahoma State University, where he was also awarded the Totusek Top-Hand Award. Andras Stock Farm has also received several awards, including 2006 Illinois Beef Association’s Seedstock Producer of the Year and 2023 Farm Family of the Year.

Andras Stock Farm has two production sales each year. Their bull sale is the first Saturday of April, and their fe- male sale takes place the first Saturday of November. Although the program seeks to offer comprehensive genetics to their customers, the primary focus has always been on calving ease and maternal genetics. Their operation utilizes AI, ET, GE-EPDs, ultrasound and rigorous data collection. Andras Stock Farm also has a smaller, registered polled Hereford herd.

Currently, Andras serves on the Affiliate Promotions Committee for RAAA. He has also served as a member and chairman of the Breed Improvement Committee. As a college sophomore, he served as president of the Junior Red Angus Association of America. Other leadership positions include Farm Bureau (county board and State Young Leader Committee) and University of Illinois Extension Advisory Council. Andras also serves as an elder at Faith Bible Church, Springfield.

Candidate for Area 9 - Midwest Ryan Hoksbergen

Ryan Hoksbergen from Pella, Iowa, is seeking election for the director position in Area 9 - Midwest.

Hoksbergen grew up on a dairy farm, the oldest of six kids, wanting nothing more than to farm for the rest of his life. Many things changed when his parents divorced, including having a farm to return to after getting a diploma from Northeast Iowa Community College in dairy herd management.

After graduating, Hoksbergen and his mother, Marlys, bought a farm and built an 80-cow dairy from the ground up. Shortly after they started milking, he met his beautiful wife, Jenny. They got married and had two kids, Kaleb and Laina.

Dairy was good to them, and they enjoyed it, but as they looked at the future and prayed for God’s will, they felt led to move into the beef industry. In 2017, they bought their first Red Angus cows to start working toward that vision and the creation of West Wind Red Angus.

In 2018, the Hoksbergens were hit by a F3 tornado, which in many ways was a blessing from God. One of those ways, is that it helped them get set up for retiring from the dairy industry and going all-in on Red Angus cattle. They set a goal of selling registered bulls and bred females to commercial cattlemen with a focus on high-quality genetics, as that has been a passion of Ryan’s since he was young.

Both Ryan and his mother enjoy working to move their cattle genetically forward with hopes of eventually moving the breed forward also.

As a board member, one of Hoksbergen’s goals would be to bring more profitability to all producers, but especially small producers so they can stay in business. He thinks some of the best producers are on the board and he would love to learn from them and serve the industry with them.

Ryan feels that his background gives him a unique perspective on the beef industry and would help him serve Red Angus members well. //