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and join for the cattle and the cattle performance, and we have had a lot of people who have eaten the meat at restaurants or bought it at a grocery store and taken it home. It’s the best beef they’ve ever had so they look it up and then they wind up buying cattle.” If trends continue, Bee- man expects AAA member- ship will likely double within the next five years as the breed becomes more popular and more people discover the beef’s quality and consis- tency, as well as the cattle’s superior performance. “We see a very bright future for the breed and the association,” Beeman says. During the AAA Annual Convention in October, Bee- man introduced the associa- tion’s new executive direc- tor, Kaci Carrales. She has taken over for Bubba and Janie Bain, who recently retired. Carrales has worked for HeartBrand since 2010, and Beeman says she knows the genetics and breed as well as anybody. That, com- bined with her passion for the beef industry and back- ground in ranching, makes her a big asset for the breed, although she does have some big shoes to fill in the office. Beeman met Bubba and Janie Bain shortly after acquiring HeartBrand Beef. At the time, Beeman knew that in order to create a suc- cessful marketing program, they would have to create a breed association to be- come the official registry of Akaushi cattle.

“As Bubba would say, ‘they drank the water,’” Beeman says. “Once they saw the Akaushi and everything they could do to change the cattle industry, Bubba and Janie signed on to head up the association.” For the past eight years, Bubba has served as the executive director and Janie

has worked in the office with him to help record animals, and build and pro- mote the Akaushi breed. “It took someone of their caliber and strength and [with] knowledge of cattle to be able to build and cre- ate this association from

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Slator Ranch Akauski

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www.akaushi.com • Winter 2019