The American Angus Association 141st Annual Convention of Delegates gathered Nov. 4 in Fort Worth, Texas. Five members were elected to the board of directors. 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., president and chairman of the board and Jim Brinkley, Milan, Mo., vice president and vice chairman of the board. Darrell Stevenson, White Sulphur Springs, Mont., will serve as the treasurer for the 2024 to 2025 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, three-year terms on the board and, if elected, they serve an additional one-year term in office as president/chairman and/or vice president/vice chairman. 

Paul Bennett, will serve a second term on the board of directors. In his first term, he served on the Certified Angus Beef board of directors, as chairman of the Breed Improvement committee, and served on the Member Services committee. Bennett and his wife, Tracy, have two children, Scott and Sarah. In 2024, they were richly blessed with three grandchildren born in a span of three days. The 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. The family transitioned the farm from a typical southside-Virginia tobacco, livestock and crop farm to a beef seedstock operation in the 1980s. Today, Knoll Crest is operated by the team of brothers — Jim, Brian and Paul — along with Paul’s nephew, Dalton. Bennett is honored to continue sharing his enthusiasm, experience and understanding of the Angus breed and its industry and pledges to remain accessible and highly engaged.  

John Dickinson finished his first term on the board as a member of the committees for Member Services, Events and Activities, Breed Improvement; and Commercial Programs. He also served for a time on the Angus Genetics Inc. board and the Angus Productions, Inc. board. Dickinson and his brother are fifth-generation Angus breeders. His great-great-grandfather, Senator Simon E. Lantz, a former American Angus Association president, first brought registered Angus cattle to their farm in 1896. 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 the association and formed Parnell Dickinson, Inc. with his two partners. He works 85 auctions annually. Dickinson also serves as the bull development manager and head of sire procurement for Grimmius Cattle Company. Dickinson is a life member of the association and has served two terms as president of the California Angus Association. In 2007, Dickinson was the youngest recipient of the CAA Hall of Fame Award. John and his girlfriend, Katie Bishop, reside in Caldwell, Idaho, and have two children, Blakely (12) and Silas (3).  

Ron Hinrichsen of Westmoreland, Kan., has been involved in multiple sectors of the beef cattle industry throughout his professional career and is a third-generation Angus breeder. Ron and his wife, Lynne, established R&L Angus/Hinrichsen Ranch in the Flint Hills of Kansas upon graduating from Kansas State University. While raising high-quality cattle, Ron and Lynne have focused on bringing in the fourth generation — their children Cale and Eva — to continue the legacy they have established. They raise cattle to fit the environment and sell bulls to commercial cattlemen based on their needs. With another family, they host an annual bull sale in the spring. Angus Herd Improvement Records, ultrasound data, and genomic testing are used to continually improve the predictability of their cattle. Along with the cattle operation, Ron’s professional career started in semen sales and later moved into animal health sales. Today he works for Boehringer Ingelheim as a senior territory manager. Ron has played an active role in the Kansas Angus Association, serving on the board and as president and junior adviser. Other leadership roles have included serving as the American Royal beef superintendent for 20 years, as the Kansas State Fair board president, and on the Kansas Livestock Association and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association animal health committees.  

Mark Johnson of Orlando, Okla., is a lifelong cattleman with more than 50 years of experience in beef production. Along with his wife, Brenda, and two daughters, Sydney and Charley, he operates J&J Beef Genetics, LLC. Johnson grew up on a centennial family farm in Deerfield, Mo. He attended Northeastern Oklahoma A&M junior college and later Oklahoma State University. He then completed his doctorate at Kansas State University in 1992. Since then, Johnson has been a professor of animal and food sciences at OSU and has served as supervisor of the OSU Purebred Beef operation for 32 years. At OSU, Johnson has held the Totusek Endowed Chair, been recognized with awards for teaching and advising, conducted youth and beef cattle extension programming and coached the livestock judging team. He is also the lead author of four chapters in the OSU Beef Cattle Manual. Johnson has served as president and vice president of the Oklahoma Angus Association and has been honored with the Mr. Angus Award. He and his wife have served as Oklahoma Junior Angus Association advisers and were inducted into the OAA Hall of Fame in 2024. 

Danny Poss, a first-generation Angus breeder and lifelong resident of Scotia, Neb., grew up on a diversified, family farming operation. The early foundation of the family’s commercial cattle operation was established by his parents, Melvin and Elizabeth. In 1985, as a sophomore in high school, Poss purchased his first registered Angus heifer. Poss attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where he majored in animal science. After graduating from college, Poss returned home to the family operation and began growing his Angus cow herd, while working with his parents on their farming operation. That same year, 1993, he sold his first three bulls privately. In 2005, Poss purchased his own ground and continued to help his dad farm. Sadly, in February 2012, Poss lost his dad to brain cancer. In 2017, he and Kristi moved the bull sale to their ranch in Scotia, Neb. Today, with the help of their boys, they market more than 300 bulls a year. To Danny and Kristi’s 30 years of marriage, they have four children: Nolan, Nathan, Neleigh and Natalie.  

To learn more about the American Angus Association Board of Directors, visit http://www.angus.org/about/board-of-directors.