Cattle Industry Recognizes Environmental Stewardship Award Winners

07/24/2002 

Seven U.S. farms and ranches have been recognized for their outstanding environmental stewardship practices by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA).  The winners were announced at the 2002 Cattle Industry Summer Conference in Reno, Nev.

The Environmental Stewardship Award Program (ESAP) recognizes cattlemen whose natural resource stewardship practices are inventive, cost-effective and contribute to the environment while enhancing productivity and profitability.  The program,sponsored by Dow AgroSciences, was created in 1991.

“Managing natural resources and implementing environmentally sound practices are essential in running a successful cattle operation and this year’s winners exemplify this,” stated NCBA President Wythe Willey, a beef producer from Cedar Rapids, Iowa.  

The recipients of this U.S. beef industry award are selected by a committee of representatives from university faculty, federal and state government agencies, and conservation and environmental organizations. 

This years regional Environmental Stewardship Award Program (ESAP) winners were:

Armstrong Farms, owned by John and Kathy Allen of Saxonburg, Penn., and in the Allen family since 1816.  They run a purebred Angus and Shorthorn cow/calf operation;

Brad Z Ranch, located in Guthrie Center, Iowa, a seedstock operation owned by Jim and Mary Bradford;

Goodson Ranch, owned and operated by Larry and Tom Goodson Cannon, Blackwell, Okla.  The ranch is an integrated cow/calf and stocker operation;

Kelly Ranch, located in the Sandhills of Neb., a cow/calf and stocker operation owned and operated by Michael and Cynthia Kelly;

Seiben Live Stock Company, established in central Montana by Henry Hibbard and today owned by his three grandsons;

Y Bar D Ranch, a cow/calf operation located on the Horseshoe Allotment of the Prescott National Forest in central Arizona.  The ranch is owned by George and Sharon Yard; and

Wakefield Farm, located in Hartwell, Ga., a cow/calf operation owned by Asa and Julie Phillips.

A national award winner from this group of regional winners will be selected by a committee made up of environmental experts and industry representatives and will be named at the Cattle Industry Annual Convention and Trade Show in Nashville, Tenn., in January 2003. 

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