DALTON, Ohio — As a Certified Hereford Beef (CHB) ambassador, Mary Ann Berg has traveled throughout the United States promoting CHB and educating people about it – she does a lot of barbecuing in the summer. That is just one of many ways she has promoted the Hereford breed.

Berg and her husband, Jerry, have about 185 acres where they have a Hereford cow-calf operation. They are involved in the Buckeye Hereford Assoc., Berg said. Part of the farm has been in Jerry’s family for many generations, but Herefords were new to the operation.

“We both came from dairy farm backgrounds,” Berg. “Where we live is very much of a dairy area and that is what our families did as a full-time living. When we were first married, we both worked off the farm full-time and the dairying just did not work into our schedule.

“Our oldest daughter had a Hereford heifer calf as her first 4-H project, and that was how we got started.”

The Bergs have four children and 11 grandchildren. Berg taught home economics until she chose to stay home with their children. Jerry was a vo-ag teacher. Now the Bergs operate Berg Tax Service, for which many of their clients are farmers or in farm-related businesses. Over the years they have been involved with their community, their church, 4-H and with various Hereford associations.

“Jerry and I have for the last 20-some years been very involved with the Buckeye Hereford Association,” she said. “We have both held offices. I have been in the Ohio Hereford Women’s group that is part of the Buckeye Hereford Association.”

Berg was named the National Poll-ette of the year in 2007 for her contributions to the Hereford breed, youth and the National Organization of Poll-ettes. She was on the board in 2009 when that group combined with the American Hereford Women.

“I was on the committee,” she said. “We merged and we are now the National Hereford Women. That was a big step. We’ve done a good job of coming together as one organization, and the organization is growing.”

The Bergs are supporters of Herefords because they have a love for the breed, Berg said. The cattle are quiet and gentle. In her work as ambassador, she said CHB is not a difficult product to sell.

“The beef is a very tender, very tasty product,” she said. “You’re not getting the flavor from the marinade or anything you’re putting on the meat, and you’re not getting the flavor just from the fat. It is there very naturally and the meat is so consistent, time after time. All people usually have to do is taste it, and they’re sold.”

But Berg is not always traveling the country promoting CHB. She has helped her husband care for those cattle on the farm, she said. They recently built a chute and corral to make vaccinating the cattle easier. But nowadays, their grandchildren – the oldest is 18 – often drop by to help, and they enjoy it.

“A couple of our children who are not living on farms now, they come home and they jump right back in. They haven’t forgotten their roots they and want their children be part of this life,” Berg said. “I think that is a testimony there. It is very important to us.”

As long as they are busy and stay healthy, the Bergs have no plans to retire. “I guess our retiring would be to enjoy sitting and watching the cattle and watching our grandchildren grow,” she added.