Kelly Albrecht — 2025 Angus Board Candidate

Kelly Albrecht, Wapanucka, Okla., is seeking a first term on the American Angus Association Board of Directors.

The elected delegates will choose five directors; a president and chairman of the Board; and a vice president and vice chairman of the Board during the Association’s 142nd Annual Convention of Delegates, which will convene at 10 a.m. Central Standard Time (CST) Sunday, Nov. 2 in Kansas City, Mo.

Visit AngusJournal.net to learn more about each candidate.

To register for Angus Convention, visit AngusConvention.com.

Visit AngusJournal.net for more and to subscribe.

Transcript

Miranda Reiman (00:02):

In a member run organization like the American Angus Association, finding success across the breed takes members willing to devote their time and energy. There are 10 candidates running for five open spots on the American Angus Association Board of Directors. I'm Miranda Reiman with the Angus Journal team, and I'm introducing you to each of them before November's annual meeting, I'm here today with Kelly Albrecht from Wapanucka, Oklahoma. Kelly, thanks for joining us today.

Kelly Albrecht (00:33):

Thank you, Miranda. Thanks for having me.

Miranda Reiman (00:36):

I guess we'll just jump right into the questions. If you want to tell me a little bit about yourself, your history with the breed and your current involvement.

Kelly Albrecht (00:44):

Well, I grew up actually in southern Utah in Hanksville, Utah. And we run, my family, I guess I'd be the fourth generation family ranch. We run on BLM out there mostly right at 40 square miles in the winter. And then we trailed our cows 70 miles to the forest service in the summer and run 'em on another 20 square miles in the summer. So I got my first cow when I was five years old, my dad gave me, and when we were out there, we sat on a horse. We were horseback about six days a week, so it was a lot different.

(01:28):

Me and my brother actually had bought it from my other brother and my dad. And then we sold out and me and my wife moved in 2002 to Wapanucka, Oklahoma and bought a ranch. And we've been out here ever since. And when I started in the registered Angus deal, we were trying to raise bulls that would run in that high elevation right there where we run on the Fish Lake Forest in Sheep Valley. It was 10,000 feet in the bottom and then they went up from there. So the cattle had to be able to travel, be good footed, be structurally correct. But the biggest thing was I was trying to raise bulls that would PAP test to run in that high elevation. So when we did move out here, we brought a semi-load of cows, we cut back to one semi-load of registered cows, and I brought I think four more semi loads of just commercial cows when we first moved out here.

(02:37):

And we've kind of changed gears out here. We can stand a little bigger cow, a little more growth. And I partner with Jeff Penz and we have a bull sale in February every year on President's Day. And I've got three kids and my two daughters, actually one of 'em lives in Idaho and one of 'em lives in Utah. And my boy Jarrett works here on the ranch with us full time with my wife and, I got another boy, Alex Gideon that works for us. So that's kind of our operation. And we run around 400 registered and commercial cows. We put in quite a few embryos every year, and that's kind of our operation anyway.

Miranda Reiman (03:29):

With that kind of background in the business, what would you say are some of the breed and the associations biggest strengths that we can build upon?

Kelly Albrecht (03:38):

Well, I think the biggest strength of the Angus cow is the cow. I mean, I think we all look back for a cow that will work in about every environment. Not all of the genetics right now will work in every environment, but there's cattle everywhere in the country that will work in every environment if you get the right kind. And I think the strength of the Angus breed of itself is all goes back to the cow. But also Angus cattle have always graded well, and the feed conversion on them's been great. And there's just a lot of positives in the Angus breed.

Miranda Reiman (04:26):

And talking about some of those positives, what do you think are some of the biggest changes that you see facing the beef industry maybe in the next five to 10 years?

Kelly Albrecht (04:36):

Well, I mean, we've got the lowest number of cattle right now that we've had in years. And I think there's going to, we're going to have to build the cow herd back. I mean, I think the cow herd that we have now is pretty young and lean and we've killed a lot of the cows, but going forward, we're going to have to replace those cows. And I think the Angus, we're in a good spot, but I think that we're going to have to keep that. I mean, I don't think we need to get complacent in where we are at. I mean, Certified Angus Beef has done a great job getting us where we are, but there's other breeds out there and then they're trying to be Angus. I think there's a lot of positives, but I think we can't get complacent either.

Miranda Reiman (05:39):

I think that you've kind of already almost led into my next question, which is what do you feel that the Association needs to be doing today to position our breed and our members for success to face some of those changes?

Kelly Albrecht (05:53):

Honestly, coming from being a commercial cattleman, I think we need to look back at our commercial guys. Our commercial guys keeps us in business. And if we forget about our commercial guys, we're in trouble. I mean, we're the leaders, the breeders are the leaders and the commercial guys kind of follow that, but we've got to, I don't know exactly how to put it, but we've got to get our commercial guys back involved with what they need. And I think we've kind of went some directions that not necessarily as in the best interest of all of our commercial guys. I mean, some of the cattle won't work in Nevada that will work in on fescue in Missouri or some cattle in North Dakota won't work in Texas. I get that. And I think we need to look and see what the challenges that the commercial guys are having and try to help 'em with that and try to, like I said, I mean we're trying to build a cow herd back and what is some of their issues and how can we help them? I mean, are they having a bunch of open two, 3-year-old cows in their environment? I mean, is the cattle that we're creating working in their where they're at? So I think that's going forward. I think we sure need to focus on our commercial guys. They got us to where we're at today, and I think we need to look back and see where we can help them become better, become more efficient.

Miranda Reiman (07:45):

So talking about some of those opportunities and challenges probably leads right into why are you running for the Board or what do you hope you can contribute?

Kelly Albrecht (07:53):

Well, that's kind of a loaded question. This year, I do not feel like, that we got represented the way that we should have maybe. And so I had a lot of guys wanting me to run for the Board, honestly. And to me, when you admit that cattle are a problem, I mean I just don't, don't think an Angus cow is the problem for the environment or I am not a big fan of, and this is just my own thing, but global warming. If global warming was, if that's really what we need to focus on, maybe we need to focus on some of these big fires that we're having out west and maybe we need to start logging and maybe we need to take the down there in Dallas on that concrete and then go out in the pasture and measure the temperature out there. I don't really think this is about global warming. I think this is about control.

(09:08):

So I see this a little bit differently than some people maybe. And I will not admit that a cow is the problem. And going back to that, I mean, if cows were a problem, why wasn't the buffalo a problem all of those years and all the other animals? And I just don't believe that. And I think there's a transparency problem, I had like to see maybe more information on why they did what they did, and maybe if I seen all of the information, maybe I'd have a different view, but we're not seeing it. And I think there needs to be more transparency within the breed.

Miranda Reiman (09:54):

Well, we thank you for throwing your hat in the ring. We know that it's a big time commitment to even volunteer to run for the Board of Directors. I guess, is there anything else, last closing thoughts that you would like people to know before November's annual meeting?

Kelly Albrecht (10:10):

Well, I guess I probably covered more than you wanted to hear, but no, I just think that there's a lot of good things that are coming with Angus cattle and I've been in all sectors my whole life, and I just would like to help the cattle move forward. And I would like my son to have the same opportunity that I've had. And the Angus cow to me is the best cow out there, and we just need to keep moving forward and try to do the right thing. Yeah.

Miranda Reiman (10:59):

Well, thank you so much for taking the time to visit with us today.

Kelly Albrecht (11:03):

Well, thank you, I appreciate it.

Miranda Reiman (11:05):

Elections will take place at the 142nd annual Convention of Delegates during the annual meeting on Sunday, November 2nd in Kansas City, Missouri. Not registered? There's still time. Visit angusconvention.com to learn more. To read full biographies and for the latest news and stories from the breed, visit angusjournal.net. And while you're there, subscribe to the monthly Angus Journal magazine. You'll get ongoing Angus convention coverage in the latest news, Association updates, stories of fellow breeders and more. Visit angusjournal.net to subscribe today