KCA Welcomes New Board Members
On April 16, 2021 the KCA Board of Directors seated newly elected board members Larry Kendig, Joel Ireland, and Gus Bartlett. Outgoing members included Greg Davis, Nicole Pfrang, and Andrew Miller. The election of new officers took place resulting with Riley Robbins being elected as KCA President, John Ney as Vice-President and Joel Ireland as Secretary/Treasurer.
Larry Kendig started farming in 1968 with his father on the family farm, which his great grandfather homesteaded in 1870. He lives on that farm now. He started a cow herd as an FFA project in high school. Presently, he and his son have a 300-head cow herd and a small feedlot where they finish calves for a niche beef market. He and his son also operate 8,000 acres of owned and rented farm ground and pasture where they raise milo, corn, soybeans, sunflowers, hay, cover crops, and cattle.
During the past 20 years, Kendig has worked with numerous individuals, companies, farm organizations, farm shows, conventions, and government agencies promoting the importance of agriculture at the producer and consumer level. He is especially interested in developing increased transparency in our agricultural markets.
Joel Ireland currently resides in Woodson County, Kansas. He and his family operate Ireland Cattle. Joel also works as an independent representative for Ruma-Lic Liquid Feed and previously of the Yates Center Elevator.
Joel has been involved with KCA for many years and has been a proud host of KCA Regional meetings including a Beef Quality Assurance certification course in 2019. He would like to see the reinstatement of Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling and extensive reforms to the Beef Checkoff. Joel is the son of Bill Ireland.
Gus Bartlett, a Kansas native, and his family, have been long-time Kansas Cattlemen’s Association members. After graduating from Fowler High School, Gus received an associate degree in Animal Science from Dodge City Community College, and then, went on to study two more years at Kansas State University. He then returned to southwest Kansas to become co-owner of Double B & S Cattle Company.
Bartlett has working relationships with members of the Kansas legislature, because he understands the importance of accurate and meaningful representation of livestock producers, not only at the local level, but state and federal as well. As a long-time member, Gus has seen KCA aid generations before him, and believes the grassroots efforts of KCA are imperative to provide a successful future for independent cattle producers. Bartlett and his wife, Sarah (Rahjes) Bartlett, welcomed their first daughter in August 2020. Their new addition has created an increased importance to advocate for current producers and future generations.