American Hereford Association announces new leadership at annual meeting
Kansas City, Mo. – Bill Goehring of Libertyville, Iowa, was announced as the new president of the American Hereford Association (AHA) during the AHA Annual Membership Meeting Oct. 22 in Kansas City, Mo. The Goehring family began in the Hereford business in 1973.
AHA president
Goehring Herefords’ registered cowherd consists of spring-calving cows and fall-calving cows, and their commercial Angus herd includes spring-calving cows and heifers. The Goehrings breed registered heifers every year as well as black and black-whiteface heifers for their annual sale, held the first Wednesday in December.
Additionally, they background steers and finish cattle at custom yards. Bill Goehring grew up on a small farm in southeast Iowa. He graduated from Iowa State University with a degree in animal science and then attended the World Wide College of Auctioneering. In August 1986, Bill’s family purchased a local livestock market in Keosauqua, Iowa.
At the time, the market needed a lot of work, so their first priority was building a feeder pig sale. The sale grew quickly, and for more than 15 years, the Goehrings sold 1,000 to 2,000 pigs weekly. When the hog business consolidated, they began to push their cattle sale, and through relationships built in the feeder pig sale they were able to gain strength in the competitive cattle market. They now market cattle annually in addition to market hogs, sheep, goats and hay.
As the sale grew, so did the Goehring family. Bill and his wife Becky have four sons; Curtis (Lauren), Lucas (Cody), Ted (Rachelle) and Colby (Hannah); and five granddaughters.
Growing up, Bill was very active in junior leadership. He held positions on the board of the Iowa Junior Hereford Association, where his parents served as advisors for most of his junior career.
He also served on the American Junior Hereford Association Board of Directors. Bill went on to serve on the board of directors for the Iowa Hereford Association and was president for two years. In 2013 and 2015, he had the honor of being asked to judge the national Hereford show in the Yards at the National Western Stock Show.
Additionally, Bill is an active member of both the Iowa and the National Livestock Marketing Associations and served as the Iowa state president for two years. He has been a judge at the World Livestock Auctioneer Championship and has traveled to Washington, D.C., with the Livestock Marketing Association. He also serves on the Iowa Beef Council.
Wyomingite selected as vice president
Wyatt Agar of Thermopolis, was selected to serve as the 2023 vice president. Raised on a multigenerational operation based in eastern Oregon, Wyatt is currently a manager and partner in Durbin Creek Ranch in Thermopolis and Washakie Feeders in Worland.
The seedstock division utilizes artificial insemination and embryo transfer technologies to produce three-fourths and full siblings. At weaning, half of the heifers are retained for the cowherd while the other half are marketed as bred females.
Bulls are sold as two-year-olds in a February production sale, which also includes baldy replacement females and ranch geldings. Calves not making the bull pen are fed and used to collect data on the sire groups.
The commercial division runs Angus and Red Angus mother cows which are exposed to Hereford bulls to produce first generation calves. The program collects data from birth to harvest on sires used in the seedstock division. At weaning, females are sold in the February production sale.
Light steers go to the operation’s stocker program in Oregon, and heavy steers are backgrounded at Washakie Feeders along with some of the ranch’s bull customers’ calves. These steers are fed to 900 pounds and are finished in Colorado.
Wyatt and his brother Jake grew up on the family’s cow/calf and stocker operation in Oregon, which they later expanded to include the Wyoming divisions. Wyatt and his wife Joey strive to raise their children Rylee, Taylor and Cooper in the same manner – working side-by-side with family to produce high-quality beef cattle off the land and backed by the cowboy ethic.
As a junior, Wyatt was the vice president of the Oregon Junior Hereford Association. Wyatt served as a senator in Wyoming’s Senate District 20 and was the first freshman senator in the state’s history to serve on the Appropriation Committee and the Select Capital Finance Committee.
Prior to, he served a term as the vice chairman and a term as secretary of the Hot Springs County Republican Party. Wyatt is a former vice chairman of the Transportation Committee, a board member of the Hot Springs County Weed and Pest and a deacon at the First Baptist Church of Thermopolis.
Directors elected
Delegates elected three new directors during the membership meeting. Jim Coley, Lafayette, Tenn.; Hampton Cornelius, LaSalle, Colo.; and Austin Snedden, Maricopa, Calif., will serve four-year terms on the 12-member board.
Completing their terms on the AHA Board were outgoing president Bruce Everhart, Waldron, Ind.; Craig Beran, Clafflin, Kan.; and Andrew Matheny, Mays Lick, Ky.
Information in this article is provided by the AHA. For more information, visit hereford.org.
