Continuing Service Award

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Angie Stump Denton, Beef Improvement Federation Communication Coordinator, angiedenton@ksu.edu or 785-562-6197

June 5, 2017

 

Hermel Presented Continuing Service Award

ATHENS, Ga. – The Beef Improvement Federation (BIF) presented Shauna Hermel, Saint Joseph, Missouri, a BIF Continuing Service Award June 2 during the group’s annual meeting and symposium in Athens, Georgia.

Continuing Service Award winners have made major contributions to the BIF organization. This includes serving on the board of directors, speaking at BIF conventions, working on BIF guidelines and other behind-the-scenes activities. As BIF is a volunteer organization, it is this contribution of time and passion for the beef cattle industry that moves BIF forward.

Hermel has served as editor of the Angus Journal and Angus Beef Bulletin since September 1997. In this role, she is responsible for a six-person in-house editorial team, as well as coordinating editorial contributions of five field editors; approximately 25 freelancers; and the communications teams of the American Angus Association, Angus Foundation and Certified Angus Beef LLC (CAB).

During her tenure at Angus, she initiated and is responsible for the organization’s venture into online coverage of industry events, including the BIF Symposium (www.BIFconference.com), which she has coordinated annually since 2002.

She won the BIF Ambassador Award in 1999 for her efforts in spreading the news of BIF and its principles to a larger audience.

Prior to working for API, Hermel was assistant and then associate editor for National Hog Farmer and BEEF magazines in Minneapolis, Minn. She is recognized as a Master Writer by the American Agricultural Editors' Association (AAEA) and has won numerous writing and photography awards through AAEA and the Livestock Publications Council (LPC). She has served on the LPC Board of Directors and as program chairman for the Ag Media Summit.

Hermel was raised on a purebred livestock operation focused on Angus cattle and Hampshire hogs in northeast Missouri. She currently resides in Saint Joseph with her husband, Todd.

More than 350 beef producers, academia and industry representatives were in attendance at the BIF’s 49th annual convention. The organization’s mission is to help improve the industry by promoting greater acceptance of beef cattle performance evaluation.

For more information about this year’s symposium, including additional award winners and coverage of meeting and tours, visit www.BIFconference.com. For more information about BIF, visit www.BeefImprovement.org.

The Beef Improvement Federation (BIF) is an organization dedicated to coordinating all segments of the beef industry — from researchers and producers to retailers — in an effort to improve the efficiency, profitability and sustainability of beef production. The organization was initiated almost 70 years ago to encourage the use of objective measurements to evaluate beef cattle. Continuing the tradition, BIF is now the clearinghouse for developing standardized programs and methodologies for recording of performance data for all traits, from birth weights to carcass traits. Its three-leaf-clover logo symbolizes the link between industry, extension and research.

Cutline:
Shauna Hermel (center), Angus Journal editor, receives the Beef Improvement Federation Continuing Service Award from Marty Ropp, 2016-2017 BIF president (left); and Donnell Brown (right), 2017-2018 BIF president. Hermel was honored June 2 at the organization’s 49th annual convention in Athens, Georgia.