2025 Certified Angus Beef Award Recipients
We say we’re the Brand that Pays®, but don’t just take our word for it.
Learn from fellow producers how targeting the Certified Angus Beef ® brand has affected their businesses and bottom lines. We realize there are a 1,000 ways to successfully produce cattle that gain and grade. Production methods vary based on environment and available resources. What fits your neighbor’s operation might not work in yours.
These are the stories of our 2025 Certified Angus Beef producer award winners who were recognized at our Annual Conference. Cattlemen share what’s worked for them (and some of what hasn’t) and why they focus on raising cattle that do well on the ranch and still perform on the plate and for the pocketbook.
Seedstock Commitment to Excellence
Legacy in the Golden Land
On a quiet stretch of Northern California rangeland, a different story unfolds. The Borror family’s legacy modestly speaks through the cattle they raise, the ground they steward. The generations who’ve made a life here demonstrate commitment to doing things right, even when no one is watching.
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Commercial Commitment to Excellence
A Means to an End
For Willis Ranch, the best Angus cattle thrive in the high desert and produce calves that can become productive replacement females or high-quality carcasses. Every year, calves are better because of their investment in tools like GeneMax and AngusLink. But behind it all is one man’s perfectionist mindset that keeps the entire family moving in the same direction.
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Feedyard Commitment to Excellence
System Over Scale
For Dallas Knobloch, it’s not about being the biggest feedyard—it’s about building a high-quality system that works. Today, with Tory’s wife Sadie and daughter Ivy, the Knobloch family owns and operates 4K Cattle. They feed 2,500 cattle at eight locations within 10 miles of home, manage 1,000 acres of crops and run a 125-head cow herd, all near Hills, Minn.
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Sustainability Award
An Unforgiving Land
What makes a ranch sustainable? To Jon, it’s simple: the same family, ranching on the same land, for the last 140 years. The Means family never could have done that without sustainability. Responsible usage of water, caring for the land and its wildlife, and destocking their herd while the land recovers from drought.
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Canadian Commitment to Excellence
Double Down on Angus
South of Calgary, Alberta, brothers Austin and Malcolm Cross carry on a century-old family history. Their great-great-grandfather staked his future on this land. Today, the Cross brothers are building one of their own—with Angus cattle that not only perform in the harsh environment but consistently meet the highest standards for beef quality.
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Progressive Partner
Helping Hands, Helping Herds
“When I die, I want to come back as one of your cows,” murmurs a friend to Steve Zybach. Full to the brim from an alfalfa ration every day, bountiful fields of lovegrass stretched out across the Texas Panhandle—and owners who leave no ounce of cattle care up for question. The Zybachs’ motivation for this level of dedication to their Angus cattle is simply love.
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Ambassador Award
An Ambassador for All
Joanie, with daughter Lindsey and her husband, Adam Hall, raise registered Angus cattle with two primary goals: producing high-quality seedstock that perform well in a wide variety of environments and ensuring end-user satisfaction. Those goals tie everything together, from promoting Angus to other producers to sharing their story with CAB partners and beef consumers.
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