Note to Editors: This column is adapted from the Kansas Profile radio series. Every Wednesday, a different Kansan, Kansas community or Kansas-based company is profiled as a regular feature of the K-State Research and Extension News lineup. A photo of Ron Wilson is available at  http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/news/sty/RonWilson.htm



By Ron Wilson, director, Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University.

Better livestock: A worthy goal for farmers and ranchers. Today we’ll meet a livestock operation that has not only worked to improve its own livestock, for decades it supported an educational event called Better Livestock Day. In fact, it first hosted the event in 1926.

Andy Schuler Jr. runs the Fairview Angus Farm. His family has been promoting better livestock for generations.

The Schuler family has deep roots in Kansas. Andy’s grandfather migrated to the U.S. in 1870. In 1873 he and his wife had a son they named Andrew Schuler. They homesteaded near Chapman in 1875. But when young Andy was only seven years old, his father perished in a flash flood.

Andy started farming at age 14 and worked for a neighbor to make ends meet. While doing chores for the neighbor he noticed that the Black Angus cattle grew better than the other cattle he was feeding, so he and his mother decided to raise Angus.

Andy Sr. worked through the years to get his finances in order. In 1898 he started Fairview Angus Farm on the land homesteaded by his parents, raising Angus, registering them, improving them, and selling breeding stock.

Schuler Angus came to be highly regarded. His cattle topped the market in Kansas City for five consecutive years. In 1926, he showed both the champion bull and the champion female at the Kansas State Fair.

In 1924, Andy Sr. and his wife had a son they named Andy Jr. As a boy, he did everything with his dad, including going to Feeder’s Day at K-State when he was just seven years old. Andy Jr. remembers seeing pictures hanging in Weber Hall honoring pioneer cattle breeders.  Andy Sr. was selected to join that Wall of Fame in 1957.

Andy Jr. took the herd on the show circuit with great success. For five straight years, he had the grand champion heifer at the Kansas State Fair. A great granddaughter of one of his 4-H heifers later became an International Grand Champion.

Because so many school groups wanted to practice judging, cattle breeders in the area created an annual exhibition and judging contest to promote high quality livestock. Called Better Livestock Day, it started in 1926 and continued for 60 years. It was held at various farms, including Fairview Angus Farm, and in later years at local fairgrounds. By the mid-1950s, the event attracted some 2,000 people annually. More than 100,000 people attended the event over the years.

Andy Sr. passed away in 1963, but the Schulers continued to expand the business.   They’ve shipped cattle from Virginia to Oregon and internationally, all from their rural location near Chapman, population 1,233 people. Now, that’s rural.

At age 34, Andy Jr. became president of the Kansas Angus Association. In 1959, he was elected to the Board of Directors for the American Angus Association. The Schulers have been recognized as Master Farmer and Master Farm Homemaker, Century Farm, Centennial Angus Farm and more.

The eight Schuler children are all life-time members of the American Angus Association and all graduated from K-State. They say their family bleeds purple!

Andy’s wife passed away in 1993, but he still operates the farm and business at age 84.   His clients return regularly for a new herd bull or a 4-H calf. The Schulers have been selling to some families for four generations. Fairview Angus Farm is thought to be the oldest continuously family-owned registered Angus herd in Kansas and one of the oldest in the nation.

Remember those pictures Andy saw hanging in Weber Hall as a boy? Now he has joined them on the Wall of Fame. In 2007, he was selected the Block and Bridle Outstanding Stockman.  He and his father are one of only two father-son pairs to share this honor.

Better Livestock. Not only has this been a goal of the Schuler family, it was the name of the event the Schulers helped conduct for generations. We commend Andy Schuler Jr. and his family for making a difference with their lifelong commitment to the improvement of the beef industry. Their work has helped make livestock better.

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The mission of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development is to enhance rural development by helping rural people help themselves. The Kansas Profile radio series and columns are produced with assistance from the K-State Research and Extension Department of Communications News Unit. Audio and text files of Kansas Profiles are available at http://www.kansasprofile.com. For more information about the Huck Boyd Institute, interested persons can visit http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/huckboyd/.

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K-State Research and Extension is a short name for the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, a program designed to generate and distribute useful knowledge for the well-being of Kansans. Supported by county, state, federal and private funds, the program has county Extension offices, experiment fields, area Extension offices and regional research centers statewide. Its headquarters is on the K-State campus, Manhattan.

Story by: Ron Wilson
rwilson@oznet.ksu.edu
K-State Research & Extension News

The Huck Boyd Institute is at 785-532-7690 or rwilson@ksu.edu.