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Tag: Barn painting

From barn painting to Rural Relief

By: Nicole Lane Erceg

Unbridled generosity isn’t uncommon in cattle country. A weekly check dropped in the offering plate, a home-cooked meal left on a hurting neighbor’s porch or the quiet, anonymous donation to a local charity fund.

When disaster strikes, rural communities know how to come together to take care of their own. When rural America gets knocked off her horse, sometimes the seed of charity and strength to weather the storm comes from unexpected places.

“This began as a simple but lofty public-relations initiative,” says Melissa Brewer, Certified Angus Beef ® (CAB®) communications director. “We just set out to paint barns.”

Designed to celebrate four decades of the world’s first premium beef brand, in 2018 that initiative painted 40 barns across the country with the brand logo. Started by American Angus Association members in the 1970s, it made sense that Angus breeders be involved in the milestone, commemorating what can be accomplished when a dedicated group of rural leaders come together.

“It quickly evolved into much, much more,” she says.

Each painting created space for local communities and people from diverse backgrounds to come together—celebrating beef. The casual conversations kindled new friendships and allowed time for reflection on the last 40 years in the beef business. The process unveiled incredible stories of perseverance, grief, triumph and the best parts of rural life.

Each barn had its own personality and, in turn, a unique legacy—each and collectively worth documenting.

When the painting stopped, the storytelling began. Lessons of leadership, business savvy and the hard life carved from the land became Sheltering Generations—The American Barn, a coffee table book featuring snapshots and stories of Angus life.

It’s a way to tell the stories of not just where each pound of CAB begins, but who the people are that raise it. The communications team hoped the book would be a centerpiece on tables, sharing stories of the barns with those who live farthest from the farm gate. Like the painting project before it, the book quickly gained a deeper significance.

Not every story farmers and ranchers tell make folks want to pack up and move out there. Working in tandem with Mother Nature can be dangerous and frustrating. Each family featured has weathered their fair share of storms, the barn providing shelter for people and animals alike.

The sheltering notion inspired a way for rural and urbanites to join in helping to provide assistance when disaster strikes. For each book purchased, 100% of the sales proceeds will go toward a new brand initiative: The Rural Relief Fund. When disaster strikes cow country, the fund will allow the brand to offer aid.

“Painting barns brought the entire beef community together, from gate to plate,” Brewer says. “This is a continuation of that. Providing people who enjoy great beef a chance to lend a hand when our farmers and ranchers need it. The Rural Relief Fund is our vehicle to make sure that one storm, one tragedy isn’t the reason a generational family business has to close the barn doors forever.”

Order Sheltering Generations—The American Barn at shop.certifiedangusbeef.com.

Originally ran in the Angus Journal.

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Tall tales and high standards 

I’ve always been a big fan of good stories – tales of great adventure and overcoming adversity. The type of stories with characters who throw out the rulebook and make one of their own.

Minnie Lou and daughter Mary Lou Bradley, along with Mary Lou’s husband James Henderson are those type of people. By creating their own standards of success for doing business, they changed the beef industry for the better.

When I turned down the dirt road that leads to Bradley 3 Ranch, I knew I was in for a good story. I didn’t realize I would hear jaw-dropping sagas including characters like Beyoncé or Bonnie and Clyde. All true, all almost unbelievable, all worthy of repeating, but the most moving stories were about those sitting right in front of me.

When people doubted that the rough Texas panhandle in the middle of a drought was a good place to start an Angus seedstock operation in the 1950’s, Minnie Lou proved them wrong. By being a ‘grass person first,’ shipping any cow that doesn’t produce a calf and breeding Angus genetics that have to work for the cattleman she built a legacy.

When most producers stayed close to the ranch, Minnie Lou spent hours in grocery stores, standing at the meat case and asking consumers questions — seeking to understand what they were truly looking for when shopping for beef.  She then took those experiences to the board room where she became the first woman to Chair the American Angus Association board of directors.

“You can do what you want to do, if you want it bad enough,” Minnie Lou says. “You’re going to be challenged, you’re going to work hard and not everything is going to come together like you want it to. But I guarantee, if your heart is there and your head is there and you have integrity, are focused in one direction and if you are honest with yourself and everyone else — there is always a way.”

It’s a mindset she passed on to her daughter.

While others shrugged Natural beef off as a ‘consumer phase’ and said there was no way a small packer could survive, Mary Lou dug in her heels. At 25 years old she built her own packing plant and launched B3R Country Meats. She flew to New York to visit the meat packing district and elbowed her way into the market there. In 2004 it was her plant that became the first packer licensed to produce Certified Angus Beef ® Natural.

Value-added products were a risky line extension for Certified Angus Beef in the 1980s, but James knew they could work. He helped create the first Certified Angus Beef ® corned beef product before he joined B3R in the early ‘90s. Currently, he serves on the CAB board of directors and manages the Bradley cowherd.

A fierce determination to create what the market and consumers demand helped them create history — a history that’s deeply intertwined with our brand. From conception to consumption and everything in between, this family understands what it takes to make great beef.

“I’ve been around cattle my whole life and I always thought I understood it,” Minnie Lou says. “But until you see your own cattle hanging on a rail and see how they perform in a feedlot…it changes your perspective.”

I see in them what I’m sure is the same grit those who launched our brand in 1978 had and the vision that’s kept us going for 40 years. It just wouldn’t be right to have a 40th Anniversary celebratory campaign without including Bradley 3 Ranch. Their barn will go down in history as #10 on our tour.

The logo on the side of their barn is a mark of quality, but it’s also the beginning of a story. When someone points to the mural and asks “why?” each family member has their own tale to tell of what the symbol means to them and their role in making it mean something valuable to the consumer.

“The main thing I think has helped the Certified Angus Beef ® brand be successful all these years is setting their standards so high and living with them,” Minnie Lou says.

I would argue the same is true about her own success.

It’s said that the greatest legends are those rooted deeply in truth. They inspire us and create stories that span generations because the individuals and their feats are worth repeating. Over the generations, the details get fuzzy, but the core lessons remain. Not to disagree with the esteemed cattlewoman, but I think the real key to this brand’s success is Angus breeders who live stories like these. The kind that I’ll never tire of telling and that 40 years from now will be looked back on as catalysts for moving our industry forward in the quest for better beef.

Until next time,

Nicole

 
 

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More than a logo

I wasn’t around for the first pound sold.

A decade away from walking this earth, October 18, 1978 came and went.

I try to think back to when I first learned what the Certified Angus Beef ® brand was, where and how I came to know the meaning behind those words and iconic logo.

IMG_1775
Artist Scott Hagan painted the inaugural barn.

Maybe it was in college, or some time before then; I don’t fully recall. What I can attest to are the years since.

Since…

  • A 2010 college internship from afar
  • A move to Wooster, Ohio, five days after graduation
  • A return home to the ranch to work remote

My story, like so many, is riddled with CAB through its seams.

IMG_1716
It may seem small but we all smiled wide as Scott made the first brushstroke of many.

What’s your story?

I’m all but certain you have one – a special meal, a plentiful payout, a herd with a goal?

There have been moments for me, let me tell you. Conversations across kitchen counters, hand shakes evident of an industry that’s endured, tears that tell stories of victory over defeat. I hold them close, honored to be the girl to bear witness firsthand.

IMG_1862
By this time quite the crowd had gathered to see this logo come to life. The Baldwin’s barn is visible from Florida’s busy I-75 so perhaps even drivers took notice.

This year, the 40th anniversary of the Certified Angus Beef ® (CAB®) brand, is about those stories: retelling old ones and establishing new.

For starters we kicked off the #BrandtheBarn campaign, celebrating the brand’s heritage through art and appreciation, first in Florida.

“I know my honey’s smiling down from heaven today,” Sharon Baldwin told me.

IMG_1869
Mrs. Sharon stood watch from the beginning until the end. The gratitude she felt was mutual.

The matriarch of Baldwin Angus, near Ocala, Fla., was married to and raised three children with her husband, Leroy, before his passing. The early Angus advocate served as the American Angus Association president in 2002.

Family and friends, farmers, brand partners and even the mayor came to see the logo painted. Our hope is many more will see it for years to come.

IMG_1920
A family affair, the Baldwins were beaming as Scott began the finishing touches.

You see, I don’t look at it as an individual unit, this brand, but rather the ranchers, their cattle, the consumers, their sellers – all intertwined and working as one.

If you’re reading, thanks for being a part of our story. If you’d like to share yours, leave a comment.

Otherwise follow along this year as we #BrandtheBarn.

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As big as a barn

Nebraska history books talk about it, barn aficionados know about it, and for something like 75 years, the 18-sided barn that stood along the Niobrara River sat on land that my in-laws now operate near Butte, Neb.

It was originally built by a local who had a contract to supply horses to the army. With 24 stalls and a 60-foot-high hayloft, it fit that bill.

File Nov 14, 12 35 54 PM
My husband’s grandpa submitted this picture of the 18-sided barn for inclusion in the “Barns in the U.S.A.” book by Wilson L. Wells.

 

Long before I became a Reiman, a bad windstorm (possibly a tornado?) took down what was left of the structure that had been in disrepair for years. You see, the generation before my father-in-law saw it as an old relic, a rather dysfunctional structure too far from the main farming operations.

Such is the way of many barns across America, really. I can appreciate the old structures, but that’s probably because I never had to put hay into them. As a young kid, I’d watch the high school boys my dad hired throw bales as the John Deere elevator brought them to the second story of our own barn. We switched to round bales shortly after. I get why many have replaced these worn buildings with new metal calving sheds and better feed storage options, but I love the nostalgia of them just the same.

Turns out, I’m not the only one.

When our Certified Angus Beef® (CAB®) team started talking about ways to celebrate our upcoming 40th Anniversary in a big way, somebody brought up the idea of a barn painting tour, similar to the Mail Pouch Tobacco advertising and others of yesteryear.

This is where you come in.

Since our very beginning back in 1978, we’ve relied on farmers and ranchers who have focused their high-quality Angus genetics to supply the CAB brand with greater and greater success. Over those decades, the logo, product and breed have been making a mark on the beef industry. A big mark.

Now we want to leave our mark on 40 communities across the country. We’re taking nominations for barns that will be painted throughout 2018, and we plan to touch each community we visit by giving back in a unique way.

So how does your barn or your neighbors’ get on the list? We’ve got a simple application process that asks a few questions and requires photo submissions.

CAB-Logo-Barn
Proud CAB supporter? This could be your barn.

If you’ve got one in mind, hurry! Nominations close Dec. 1.

Then the selection committee will review all options, giving priority to those in high traffic areas, close to well-traveled roads and to wooden structures with ideal surfaces.

If your barn is chosen, we’ll look forward to getting to know you better.

I, for one, can’t wait to see what gems we uncover.

May your bottom line be filled with black ink,

Miranda

P.S. The lead photo of my husband pulling a bunch of Reimans on sleds a few years back shows their current barn in the background. It’s used to warm up a new pair during the coldest of winter nights or to house the occasional orphan calf. It’s most permanent residents are the barn cats that call it home.

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Brand the barn

CAB Seeks paint worthy nominees for 40th anniversary

 

by Nicole Lane Erceg

Enthusiastic ranchers have long sought permission to use the Certified Angus Beef ® (CAB®) brand logo. For a company that owns only a brand — no cattle, no product — that registered trademark is a pretty important asset. Its use is restricted to licensed partners that sell the beef product.

Since 1978, ranchers have focused their high-quality Angus genetics to supply the CAB brand with greater and greater success. Over those decades, the logo, product and breed have been making a mark on the beef industry. A big mark.

To celebrate, CAB is doing something big.

As big as a barn, in fact.

To commemorate 40 years, the world’s largest and most successful brand of beef will paint that logo, the most valuable thing it owns, on 40 barns across the United States.

Yours could be one of them.

The brand is accepting nominations for barns that will be painted by Ohio artist Scott Hagan. Known as the “Barn Artist,” Hagan specializes in creating larger-than-life designs on barns across the country. He creates each of his murals by hand and has worked on more than 400 barns in his 20 years of painting.

“For the 40th Anniversary, we wanted to do something that reflects our history as well as the legacy of quality,” says Tracey Erickson, vice president of marketing for CAB. “Without our ranching heritage, the Certified Angus Beef brand wouldn’t exist, so what better way to promote it than to pay homage to them in our celebrations? That’s how the idea for painting these barns was born.”

Go online to nominate a barn for the 40th anniversary painting campaign. The simple application requires a minimum of three photos of the structure and surrounding area. Preference will be given to wood-sided barns, and they will be selected based on location, scenic beauty and high-traffic areas.

“It’s exciting to embrace a form of marketing that’s all but disappeared over the years, yet one that’s still very appropriate today for our mission to support Angus producers,” says Erickson. “Use of our logo is typically limited to our product, but for this campaign, we are proud to be able to display a brand created by Angus producers on their farms across the country.”

The first barn painting is set to begin in early 2018 with a sequence of paintings throughout the year. Hagan will wrap up his final logo mural in Ohio, home state for the brand.

“We’re looking forward to honoring farmers and ranchers across the nation while engaging their local communities along the way,” Erickson says. “We are honored and humbled to celebrate this anniversary with them.”

To submit an application for your barn or to nominate a barn in your area, visit www.certifiedangusbeef.com/brandthebarn.  

 

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