This national award is presented annually to a producer to recognize their dedication to improving the beef industry at the seedstock level. 

Hinkson Angus Ranch is located in the Flint Hills region of east-central Kansas, 12 miles southeast of Cottonwood Falls. This region is the largest portion of the tallgrass prairie left in North America. The ranch was purchased in March 1984, when Frank Hinkson Jr., wife, Marilyn, and children, Trey and Tyla, moved from West Texas with 90 head of registered Angus cows. These cows stemmed from the original registered herd started by Frank Hinkson Sr. in 1959 near Lazbuddie, Texas.

Today, Hinkson Angus Ranch is owned by Hinkson Jr. and his son, Trey, who is the fourth generation on the ranch and manages the daily operation. Hinkson Angus consists of 5,500 acres of owned and leased land, and 200 fall- and 175 spring-calving registered Angus cows. An additional 1,000 commercial heifers are purchased each year, with the majority coming from Hinkson bull customers.

The focus of the Hinkson family is to produce practical, balanced-trait seedstock that will work at an optimum level in all phases of the beef industry in a real-world environment. Over the years, the Hinksons have been early to adopt new advances and technology within the livestock industry. A small herd of registered Charolais cows was added in 2017, in response to the needs of some of their commercial customers to add terminal genetics. The Kansas Livestock Association nominated Hinkson Angus Ranch.

More than 500 beef producers, academia and industry representatives attended the organization’s 51st annual convention. BIF’s mission is to help improve the industry by promoting greater acceptance of beef cattle performance evaluation.

For more information about this year’s symposium, including additional award winners and coverage of the meeting and tours, visit the conference website. For more information about the Beef Improvement Federation, visit the website.  

—From a Beef Improvement Federation news release

PHOTO: Hinkson Angus Ranch, Cottonwood Falls, Kansas, was named the 2019 Beef Improvement Federation Seedstock Producer of the Year during an awards ceremony June 20 in Brookings, South Dakota. Pictured from left to right are: Burt Rutherford, Marilyn and Frank Hinkson Jr., and Lee Leachman, 2018-19 BIF president. Photo courtesy of Beef Improvement Federation.