BIF Pioneer Award
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Angie Stump Denton, Beef Improvement Federation Communication Coordinator, 785-562-6197
June 24, 2019
Wulf Presented BIF Pioneer Award
BROOKINGS, South Dakota – The Beef Improvement Federation (BIF) presented Jerry Wulf, Morris, Minnesota, the BIF Pioneer Award June 20 during the group’s annual meeting and symposium in Brookings, South Dakota.
The award recognizes individuals who have made lasting contributions to the improvement of beef cattle, honoring those who have had a major role in acceptance of performance reporting and documentation as the primary means to make genetic change in beef cattle.
In business for more than 60 years, the Wulf operation spans across Minnesota, South Dakota and Nebraska, and is partners with Riverview LLP, a dairy enterprise. Wulf Cattle manages 2,000 registered Limousin and Lim-Flex females, finishes 100,000 head of fed cattle annually; and has a 12,000-head grass stocker operation in western South Dakota. The operation ranks in National Cattlemen’s Beef Association’s Top 25 Seedstock Producers.
“Jerry is an industry icon, a visionary and a leader,” says Joe Epperly, Wagonhammer Ranches, Albion, Nebraska. “He has taken every goal of the Beef Improvement Federation in objective selection and made it a practical reality. For more than 50 years, he has been on the cutting edge of the beef industry, and I can think of no one more deserving of the term pioneer than him.”
An industry leader in the development of expected progeny differences (EPDs) and indexes, Wulf has contributed a tremendous amount of data toward the development of the first docility EPD in the beef industry at the North American Limousin Foundation. They were some of the first to collect large quantities of feed efficiency data and worked closely with staff at NALF to produce an across-breed feed efficiency index for in-house selection and customer information.
“Jerry was a driver behind increasing use of genomics in selection and collected thousands of samples from the earliest days of genomics until today,” Epperly says. “He worked with his brother, Duane, to produce three proprietary indexes for their customers: First Calf Heifers, Mainstream Terminal Sires, Mainstream Markets Keeping Replacements, which they continue to update and publish annually.”
More than 500 beef producers, academia and industry representatives attended the organization’s 51st annual convention. BIF’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 the meeting and tours, visit BIFconference.com. For more information about BIF, visit 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:
Jerry Wulf (center), Morris, Minnesota, receives the Beef Improvement Federation Pioneer Award. Pictured with Wulf are Joe Epperly (left), Wagonhammer Ranches, Albion, Nebraska, and BIF board member; and Lee Leachman (right) 2018-2019 BIF president. Wulf was honored June 20 at the organization’s 51st annual convention in Brookings, South Dakota.
Family photo cutline:
Jerry Wulf, Morris, Minnesota, received the Beef Improvement Federation Pioneer Award. Family members pictured (from left) are Travis and Rita Moser; Linda and Jerry Wulf; Robyn and son Blaze Metzger; and Rhonda Wulf.
