Angus Assc blowup?

I read in a farm magazine that 12 employees quit or got fired or something......back in April. I hadn't heard about it.

Go to

http://www.advantagecattle.com/forum/default.asp

and then you can click on

General Information

to find the thread with 120 pages of discussion about this under

Angus Regional Mgr.

Another related thread just above this one, is

2014 AAA Board candidates 

CAB has helped all of us sell our beef.  Let's hope the AAA gets their act together soon.  I've owned Angus, but most of them were not registered.  Angus cattle are extremely important to everyone in the beef industry!

Looks like 15 members, including some regional directors, wrote a letter questioning the leadership direction and competence of the CEO.
All but 3 got fired
The letter is on page 15 of those 121 pages, but here are the concluding paragraphs:
"Four years ago, a fellow staff member asked, "At what point are we as staff considered negligent by the Board and our membership if we fail to communicate just what the situation is like here in the office?" That time has arrived. We feel it is our fiduciary duty as a staff to voice our lack of confidence in the performance of the CEO and request his removal before the situation deteriorates further.
We bring our concerns to you because we care about the Angus breed, our breeders and their future. We all intend to continue providing service to the American Angus Association without interruption. Thank you for your consideration of this formal complaint."

Sincerely,

The following Association staff (and their years of service):

Jerry Cassady, 22 years
Chris Stallo, 17 years
Vern Frey, 10 years
Don Laughlin, 34 years
Matt Caldwell, 16 years
Robin Ruff, 6 years
Chuck Grove, 39 years
Lou Ann Adams, 31 years
Matt Printz, 10 years
Sally Northcutt, 11 years
Wes Tiemann, 6 years
Scott Johnson, 18 years
Richard Dyar, 35 years
Bill Bowman, 22 years
Rod Wesselman, 21 years

The Vote:

Votes to keep Schumann:
1. Watkins
2. Sankey
3. Sawyer
4. Silveira
5. Boyd
6. Howell
7. Meyer
8. Burke
9. Harrell
10. McDonnell

Votes to fire Schumann:

1. Sitz
2. Schroeder
3. Foster
4. Pfeiffer
5. Yon
6. Schiefelbein

Those that were fired:

Chuck Grove
Richard Dyar
Matt Caldwell
Jerry Cassady
Matt Printz
Rod Wesselmen
Bill Bowman
Sally Northcutt
Don Laughlin
Lou Ann Adams
Scott Johnson
Robin Ruff

So, I'm curious as to why the board members voted the way they did.  With that many people putting their jobs on the line, you'd like to believe the board would take the report very seriously. 

Was there an agenda the "no" voting board members shared with the CEO?  Not accusing.  The Simmental Association is dealing with something very similar....CEO's ideas, thoughts on moving breed forward don't seem to be in line with many of the members. 

In a brief vent, API is something the ASA has pushed.  I've yet to speak with a single member that's happy with the ASA's promotion of the API being pushed in propaganda to our commercial customers and in the show ring as well.  High API cattle simply do not work in all aspects of bettering the breed and API cattle can not thrive in several climates in the States. 

But, the ASA Board has sided with the CEO and in my opinion, not with the people they represent.  So, whether it's voting for representatives for congress or board members....make sure you know where they stand on issues important to you.  It's not a popularity contest!

Rant over.

Like someone told me, when it comes to the boards.  Half of the board will support those in charge while the other half tries to figure out how to get rid of them.

It is such situations as these that affects progress of these associations.  Sometimes it isn't about the members and what would help them the most.  Part of the political processes bad and good that can happen.

Maybe, it turns out, there was a lot of backlash about the shift from collecting real kill floor data for CAB to lab reported ultrasound measurements. Maybe there was some dispute about the accuracy of the data and the shifting around of epd's. Maybe a lot of people had been fired for questioning the methodology and the direction the breed was going by promoting the the trait leaders for the CAB holy grail.  The mutiny was, perhaps, just a way to discredit any motion toward finally addressing the inconsistent results of reported data and recorded data. Maybe the mutiny was bought.
Maybe just a conspiracy theory.

Is the data ever independently verified?


Unfortunately with cattle, it's expensive to do this.

Knowing some of the people let go, I would suspect it was an ego trip that didn't go so very well. 

cowman 52 said:

Knowing some of the people let go, I would suspect it was an ego trip that didn't go so very well.

Click to expand...

Ego was probably an issue on all sides.


Inability to resolve issues almost always involves dissolution.


The issues are not in print anywhere.


All that is in print is some people don't like each each other.


Meanwhile, the cattle are standing around laughing.

Follow the money over the next couple years if CAB goes private
http://www.cuplab.com/

http://www.cuplab.com/files/siteContent/editor/CUP%20Mar%202014%20Carcass%20traits%20are%20a%20major%20profit%20driver%20Bob%20Hough.pdf