The American Angus Association elected five members to its board of directors during the 141st Annual Convention of Delegates gathering on Nov. 4 in Ft. Worth, Texas. They are Paul Bennett (second term), Red House, Va.; John Dickinson (second term), Auburn, Calif.; Ron Hinrichsen, Westmoreland, Kan.; Mark Johnson, Orlando, Okla., and Danny Poss, Scotia, Neb.

The delegation also elected new officers: Jonathan Perry, Fayetteville, Tenn., as president and chairman of the board, and Jim Brinkley, Milan, Mo., as vice president and vice chairman of the board. Darrell Stevenson, White Sulphur Springs, Mont., will serve as treasurer for the 2024-25 term.

“We have got to continue to make the American Angus Association relevant to its breeders and its members,” said Jonathan Perry, president and chairman of the American Angus Association board of directors. “We have got to embrace diversity. We have got to continue to create tools that touch every member. The diversity of our breeders and our breed is our greatest strength.”

Directors can serve up to two 3-year terms on the board and, if elected, an additional one-year term in office as president/chairman and/or vice president/vice chairman.

Bennett will serve a second term on the board. In his first term, he served on the Certified Angus Beef board of directors and the Member Services committee and was chairman of the Breed Improvement committee. His family operation, Knoll Crest Farm Inc,. is now a fourth-generation seedstock operation, with Bennett’s grandfather, Paul D. Bennett, establishing a registered cow herd in 1944. Today, Knoll Crest is operated by brothers Jim, Brian and Paul Bennett, along with Paul’s nephew, Dalton.

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Dickinson finished his first term on the board as a member of the committees for Member Services; Events & Activities; Breed Improvement, and Commercial Programs. He also served on the Angus Genetics Inc. board and the Angus Productions Inc. board. Dickinson is a life member of the association and has served two terms as president of the California Angus Association.

Upon graduation from the University of Illinois, Dickinson served as a regional manager for the association for 10 years. In the spring of 2007, Dickinson left and formed Parnell Dickinson Inc. with his two partners. He works 85 auctions annually and also serves as the bull development manager and head of sire procurement for Grimmius Cattle Co.

Hinrichsen has been involved in multiple sectors of the beef cattle industry throughout his professional career and is a third-generation Angus breeder. He and his wife, Lynne, established R&L Angus/Hinrichsen Ranch in the Flint Hills of Kansas upon graduating from Kansas State University. Hinrichsen currently works for Boehringer Ingelheim as a senior territory manager. He has also served on the Kansas Angus Association board and as president and junior advisor.

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Johnson has more than 50 years of experience in beef production. He operates J&J Beef Genetics LLC along with his wife and two daughters. Johnson attended Oklahoma State University (OSU) and completed his doctorate at Kansas State University in 1992. Since then, Johnson has been a professor of animal and food sciences at OSU, served as supervisor of the OSU Purebred Beef operation for 32 years and is the lead author of four chapters in the OSU Beef Cattle Manual. Johnson has also served as president and vice president of the Oklahoma Angus Association.

Poss, a first-generation Angus breeder, grew up on a diversified family farming operation and majored in animal science at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. After graduating, Poss returned home to the family operation and began growing his Angus cow herd while working with his parents on their farming operation. In 2005, Poss purchased his own ground and continued to help his dad farm. In 2017, he and his wife moved the bull sale to their ranch in Scotia.

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The American Angus Association is the nation’s largest beef breed organization, serving more than 21,000 members across the U.S., Canada and several other countries and with a breed registry that grows by more than 300,000 animals each year. The association also provides programs and services to farmers, ranchers and others who rely on Angus to produce genetics for the beef industry and beef for consumers.