By DOUG GRAVES
Ohio Correspondent COLUMBUS, Ohio — Only one honored stockman each year earns a spot in the Hall of Fame in Louisville, Ky. Last month officials of the Kentucky State Fair Board announced that Louis “Mick” Colvin will receive the 2009 Saddle & Sirloin Portrait Award.
Have you frequented a food store lately? Then no doubt you’ve seen the CAB beef signs in the meat department. Colvin is the brand creator and beef marketer of Certified Angus Beef, or CAB. And he’s been a pioneer in the beef industry for 55 years.
“When I was a young kid a preacher once told me that I need a goal and a vision,” Colvin said. “I never thought I had either back then. I really didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life.”
Colvin was born in Pennsylvania, son of parents who were into beef cattle.
“I remember we dealt with all breeds when I grew up,” Colvin said.
Colvin graduated from Penn State University in 1960 with a degree in animal husbandry. He worked at the hog barn at the university, with no great desire to work with animals on a full-time bases. Not until his junior year did he decide to take farming seriously.
“In 1959 I bought a trailer and got some Angus.
One thing led to another and here I am today,” he said.
Time to fill in those blanks. During his 55 years in animal agriculture, Colvin served as a farm manager and herdsman, earning the coveted John B. Memorial Trophy for Herdsman of the Year in 1963. He then served as fieldman for the American Angus Association begininng in 1968, and he established Colvin Angus Farm soon after. By 1978 Colvin’s vision and determination led him to the establishing CAB.
“It wasn’t just one person,” Colvin explained modestly. “I’ve been blessed to have worked with a lot of good people along the way.”
As CAB executive director for 21 years, Colvin took the concept of identifying and marketing beef with consumer-focused quality specifications to a worldwide brand. CAB product became the benchmark for quality beef within the food industry and a catalyst for consumer-driven approaches to cattle and beef marketing. Last year, 634 million pounds of CAB products were sold to consumers throughout the U.S. and in 45 other countries.
The efforts Colvin led for two decades encouraged packers to pay premiums for qualifying cattle. In the past 12 years of grid payments to producers, the CAB share alone has reached $250 million. Additionally, Cattle-Fax in 2007 estimated the CAB brand and other USDA premium Choice and Prime programs add about $500 billion to the entire cattle industry each year. That’s an additional $19 for every head of finished cattle.
“Mick forged the CAB brand around a quality product, produced and mechanized by quality people with the utmost integrity,” said John Stika, the brand’s president. “Mick’s legacy has changed the way cattle are selected – not just domestically, but globally.”
Not a bad career, considering Colvin had no vision of this venture just before graduating from college.
“I wondered whether I was doing the right thing or not. As things turned out the CAB has been the way to go,” Colvin said.
Colvin’s portrait will be hung in November in the historic gallery at the Kentucky State Fair and Exposition Center. The Saddle & Sirloin gallery honors pioneers in animal agriculture, with the earliest portraits of European stockmen from the 1700s.
The induction ceremony and presentation of his portrait will take place during the 2009 North American International Livestock Exposition in November. Those interested in attending the banquet should contact the Mick Colvin Portrait Committee at 330-345-2333, ext. 268 or e-mail ColvinCommittee@certifiedangusbeef.com |
