Rutledges are not just my neighbor. Both Lance and Andrea Rutledge had impressive accomplishments in the Red Angus beef industry.

Lance Rutledge was one of the 24 Nile Merit Heifer Program participants in the class of 2020. He'll be showing his heifer in October of this year.

I visited with Lance about his selection, and although I asked him to brag a little about himself, he played down his accomplishment. His application clearly showed his work in 4-H and FFA. It also required he had three letters of recommendation and three different people as reference.

He said the application is "based on your ability to care for the animal. They want to know the animal is well taken care of." Though that is true, there was much more considered in the selection. The Nile Merit Heifer Program web page states, "The purpose of the project is to help youth get a start in the beef cattle business by awarding heifer calves to project participants chosen on the basis of merit, future goals and ability to care for animals."

"Each program participant will own their heifer jointly with NILE until the completion of the program, at which time NILE officials will sign off, and the participant will take full ownership of the heifer. During the program duration, participants are responsible for raising the heifer, arranging for her bred, completing the record keep procedure, and bringing the animal back one year later as a bred replacement heifer for the exhibit at the Nile Stock Show."

How many participants are selected depends on the year and how many donors they have; this year, it was 24 donors. Lance's donor is Lost Creek Red Angus in Molt Montana, which continues to support Lance.

Lance said he likes the program. "It's really good because you meet so many people. We have monthly conference calls, where you get to talk to professionals on subjects like feeding and beef nutrition.

Lance obviously likes the Red Angus. He owns 19 head of registered Red Angus. He laughed when I called him a cowboy, but he has a good start on a quality head of livestock for a 15-year-old.

Andrea Rutledge was chosen as the National President by the Board of Junior Red Angus Association of America.

The national board's purpose is to promote the beef industry and provide more knowledge about the Red Angus Breed.

Andrea told me, "My first 4-H steer was a Red Angus. It was the only Red Angus in the fair. I was at the bottom of the pack at the fair, but he got Reserve Angus carcass. So, after that, I got hooked. I found wonderful support from those who already were raising the (Red Angus) breed."

Her goals this year nationally would be to start meeting back together physically. They have been meeting by Zoom. And A national board member took a special interest in me, and that's why I'm where I am today. I want to do the same thing for a junior in the industry.

Andrea is a Junior at MSU, getting a degree in Animal Science with a Livestock Management and Industry concentration. "I want to breed cattle. I would like to have my own AI business with an emphasis on embryo transfer."

She's on her way!