Angus Heritage Foundation Honors Individuals for
Contributions to Beef Industry

Leroy Baldwin, Ocala, FL., has been a lifelong supporter of the Angus breed and the cattle industry as a whole. He decided that raising cattle was what he wanted in life at the early age of 7. He purchased his first purebred heifer in 1947, as a result of money he earned from his 4-H and FFA projects. Today, he still is an avid supporter of the youth involved in both organizations, as well as the animal science department at the University of Florida.

Baldwin has taken leadership roles in many industry organizations and has been recognized as a leader by many. He served as president of Florida Cattlemen's Association in 1991. He also served on the American Angus Association board of directors for eight years and led the Association as president in 2002. Baldwin was selected the Southeastern Farmer of the Year in 1993 and he has inducted into the Florida Agricultural Hall of Fame in 1995.

Baldwin has promoted the qualities of the Angus breed and exporting, both nationally and internationally, for more than 38 years. He says that God has richly blessed his life by allowing him "to care for a few of His cattle on a thousand hills."

T.J. Cawood's association with Angus cattle dates back some 68 years. He has been instrumental in the growth and development of the Angus breed in the southern United States.

As a young man, he was appointed herdsman for Hardwick Farms, a nationally know Angus herd located at Cleveland, TN. He traveled with and campaigned the show herd throughout the Southeast and Midwest in the late 1930's and early 40s. He was later named the farm's manager, a position he held until the deaths of Mr. & Mrs. C.L. Hardwick.

In 1962 Cawood purchased a small herd of registered Angus cattle and started his own herd, T.J. Cawood & Sons. He has actively supported both the East Tennessee and Tennessee Angus Associations. He has participated in both Associations' consignment sales. His peers listened to and trusted in his leadership and sound judgment to elect him twice as the East Tennessee Angus Association president. He also served as Vice President of the Tennessee Angus Association and was a director for many years.

Robert Long, Amelia Island, FL., has spent his lifetime studying, researching and education others about Angus cattle and the beef industry. He has held teaching and research appointments at Oklahoma State University and University of Kentucky. He was also chairman of animal science departments at both the University of Georgia and Texas Tech University.

In the 1970s he joined Ankony Angus Corporation as Vice President for research and development and later became the Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer.

Long has lectured on breeding, feeding, management and marketing of beef cattle in cattle producing countries throughout the world. He has offered his expertise to producers and feeders, and is  former Angus Journal Columnist. His research focused on skeletal size and muscularity of feeder cattle as they affect feedlot performance and carcass characteristics, and the use of identical twins resulting from embryo splitting to study the effects of caloric density of diet upon efficiency of production.

Orin James Sr., spent his lifetime mastering the art of being a successful Angus producer. he and his wife, Verna, partnered with J.C. Penney for more than 30 years near Hamilton, MO., under the names of Homeplace Farms and Penney and James.

James was record setter in his day. In time of World War II, he took the risk to pay $30,000 for a bull, Eileenmere 487th which he dubbed "the wonder bull of the breed." Progeny of this great bull set many sale and show ring records. At its height, Homeplace Farms sold cattle to General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Senator Albert Gore, Senator Roy Conrad and Fred MacMurry, star of "My Three Sons."

In 1955, the Penney and James herd dispersed, setting another record. More than 3,000 people attended that sale, where 504 lots averaged $2,083. For the next 10 years, James and his son, Orin Jr., continued the tradition of raising Angus cattle together near Cameron, until they dispersed in 1965. James was president of the Missouri Angus Association.