SG_USA_August_2020

Now ? Where Are They

By Kelsey Pope, Contributing Writer

Wes and Jessica McDaniel share how showing cattle and being involved in the National Junior Santa Gertrudis Association helped form their lives and careers. Dynamic Couple Brought Together by Santa Gertrudis

R aising Santa Gertrudis cattle, show- were involved in their family cattle operations, and that enthusiasm for cattle and showing brought them to the National Junior Santa Gertrudis Association (NJSGA). Wes’s family operation, MC Ranch, Ringgold, Ga., began raising Santa Gertrudis cattle in the 1970s and started exhibiting Santa Gertrudis cattle in 1990. Their family has been actively involved in both Santa Gertrudis Breeders International (SGBI) and the NJSGA, and has a long line of national champions. They received the great honor of earning the SGBI Breeder of the Year Award five years in a row (1994-1998). “I grew up only knowing Santa Gertrudis cattle and began showing cattle at an early age,” Wes says. With his family raising Santa Gertrudis cattle, Wes got involved in showing and later leading the NJSGA Board, serving as president. Wes’s father, the late Dr. Burton McDaniel, served on the SGBI Board of Directors for 12 years, and his mother, Judy, served on the SGBI Youth Activities and Finance Committees for many years. Judy and Burton chaired the 2012 SGBI Annual Meeting in Chattanooga, Tenn.; 1995 National Junior Heifer Show in Perry, Ga.; and biannual GOALS adventures across the coun- try. Burton is also credited for financially supporting the SGBI NuGen Project. Wes’s siblings – Ali, Anna and Will – were also actively involved in the junior association and showing cattle. Both Ali and Anna served as NJSGA queens. Anna and Will also served as NJSGA presidents. Wes graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in risk management and insurance, and a minor in agribusiness, before earning a law degree at Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School. Following graduation, Wes launched a career as an insurance defense attorney in Atlanta. He is now a partner at the Law Offices of Nathanial F. Hansford, standing up for the rights of injured workers across the state of Georgia as a workers’ compensation attorney. Wes gives credit to his unique background for being an advocate for the injured. With the family farm only 1½ hours north of Atlanta, Wes circled back and became more involved with the family farm ing and family is what brought Wes and Jessica McDaniel together and helped pave their path into successful careers. From a young age, both Wes and Jessica

ABOVE: Wes and Jessica McDaniel with their children, Andi and Wesley. RIGHT: Wes and Jessica met at a young age through the NJSGA.

after college. He took a more active role with SGBI, serving as the vice president of Long Range Planning, during which he led the development of the associa- tion’s Road Map for Success. He was also vice president

of Marketing and Promotion, where he worked to expand the Santa Gertrudis footprint to develop and implement a targeted marketing strategy. “Through that vision, I found myself more actively involved as SGBI president,” Wes says. Wes speaks fondly of his time as SGBI president and work- ing with former SGBI Executive Director John Ford. After retiring from the board, Wes became more engaged in the day-to-day management of the cattle operation.

42

SANTA GERTRUDIS USA