Art Butler — 2025 Angus Board Candidate

Art Butler, Bliss, Idaho, is seeking a second 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.

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Transcript

Miranda Reiman (00:01):

When looking to the future, having solid leadership is essential to securing the Angus breed's top place in the market. There are 10 candidates running for five open spots on the American Angus Association's 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. Today, I have with me Art Butler from Bliss, Idaho. And thanks for taking the time to visit with me today, Art.

Art Butler (00:28):

You're welcome. Thank you for hosting me.

Miranda Reiman (00:32):

Why don't you just start off by telling me a little bit about yourself, your history with the breed and your current involvement.

Art Butler (00:40):

Okay. I'm a third generation Angus producer here in South Central Idaho. My grandfather started this herd in 1919 and I've continued it since as a youngster in 4-H. And I got interested and kind of took the cattle of it over and worked from college and did it long distance with my dad. And then as soon as I got out of college, I came home and took it over full time. So our principal focus was to produce registered bulls for the commercial cattlemen and the arid western environments.

Miranda Reiman (01:25):

So with that foundation, can you just tell me some of the breed and the Association's biggest strengths that you believe we can build upon?

Art Butler (01:34):

Oh, I think probably the largest strength is just the sheer volume and number of cattle and the number of registrations we have. That's enabled us to create some highly accurate EPDs from that large database. And it validates those database or the EPDs, and we've been able to make accurate predictions and rapid progress using those predictions.

Miranda Reiman (02:05):

And having some of those strengths is good. As we look at the future, what are some of the biggest changes you see facing the beef industry in the next five to 10 years?

Art Butler (02:15):

Well, I think one of the large, and I've been talking about this for probably five years, but it's very evident now that we're kind of at a point where we have enough information, enough database, and enough diversity in our breed that we can make terminal cattle and we can make maternal cattle. And it is becoming more and more difficult to produce the extreme terminal cattle and still have a good found sound, functional, correct size female in our environment. Now, I certainly acknowledge that our environment is certainly not, that's not the case for everybody in the US and around the world. And so you need to breed cattle that fit your environment. But we have a tremendous challenge to continue to make carcasses, which is our end product, and we've got to keep the consumer in mind. And that's Certified Angus Beef, certainly one of our strengths, but by the same token, we got to keep the mama cow in our focus as well. And that's becoming more and more of a challenge.

Miranda Reiman (03:32):

And as you look ahead to those challenges, what do you feel the association needs to do today to position the breed and our members for success as they face those challenges?

Art Butler (03:44):

Well, I think we just need to continue to develop the tools, and the breeders use those tools as they see fit for their environment. And we can't make decisions as a board or as an association staff of what breeders need to use, but we need to provide 'em with the tools to do so. And you can target whichever goals you have.

Miranda Reiman (04:11):

So we've talked a lot about the industry and the breed. The next one gets a little more personal. Why are you running for the Board and what do you hope that you can contribute?

Art Butler (04:20):

Well, I've enjoyed the last three years, it's been an eyeopening experience and I felt like that I can bring a lot of historical perspective to the Board that a lot of the members don't have. And I remember the days, one time I got a letter in the mail from the Association and the registrations went way down and they said, we need more registrations, we need more registrations, we'll waiver late fee, register every cow you got for the minimum fee. And we went back and registered another dozen cows that were in our commercial herd that had parentage or known parentage, a lot of our registered cows.

(05:07):

So I guess that's one of the experiences I've had, but I've got a lot of historical perspective, but also I've got a lot of experience producing cattle and talking to commercial cattlemen and producing cattle for them, bulls that work for them. So they have good range cows and have end product value at the end. And like it's mentioned earlier, that's becoming more and more challenge. But I continue to advise and suggest to my clients both as a seedstock supplier and a rep for Western Video Market, I represent a lot of those calves on the video sales. And so I just feel like I have a lot to offer there from a commercial bull buyer's perspective. I can bring that to the table, the Board, and keep that in front of the Board members as we make the decisions, what are the industry demands and keep their demands forefront, not our demands as breeders, but also the commercial cattle demands.

Miranda Reiman (06:30):

Sure. Well, anyone who has served on a Board knows that it takes time and commitment. So we thank you for volunteering to be on the slate again. Is there anything else that you'd like people to know before November's annual meeting?

Art Butler (06:43):

Well, we also have, I have an opportunity here. I've got a son and a daughter both nearby and they're both very involved in our operation. And so the day-to-day work can get done, and I have time and ability to travel and go to those Board meetings without any encumbrances of what's going on at home. And I think that's important. So I've certainly enjoyed working on the committees that I've been on, and that's been a pleasure. And so I feel like that experience will help, I guess bottom line.

Miranda Reiman (07:25):

Well, we'll look forward to people getting the chance to visit with you more between now and then and when you're in Kansas City.

Art Butler (07:32):

OK

Miranda Reiman (07:33):

Thank you, Art.

Art Butler (07:34):

Thank you.

Miranda Reiman (07:36):

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 and the latest news, Association updates, stories of fellow breeders and more. Visit angusjournal.net to subscribe today.