AMERICAN BRAHMAN BREEDERS ASSOCIATION HONORS BLINN PROFESSOR

  

Blinn College Agricultural Sciences Professor Doug Pierce was named the American Brahman Breeders Association (ABBA) 2017 Friend of the Year at its 93rd Annual Board Meeting held at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

The award was presented to Pierce by ABBA president J.D. Sartwelle for his work assisting the ABBA through the Blinn College Agricultural Sciences Program.

“Doug and the Blinn Ag Sciences staff have gone out of their way to provide facilities and staff to help our meetings be useful and purposeful,” Sartwelle said.

Pierce has helped judge many open and junior ABBA shows as well as international shows. He is recognized as one of the world’s premier judges of Brahman cattle.

“I showed Brahman cattle as a kid and have always loved the breed,” Pierce said. “A lot of those breeders taught me, a so it felt like I was being recognized by the people who basically raised me.”

A member of Blinn’s faculty since 1993, Pierce founded the College’s livestock judging team, a program that has produced several national winning teams and over 20 National Junior College Livestock Coaches Association Academic All-Americans. He has served as an advisor for the Agricultural Club since 1993, one of Blinn’s largest student organizations; he also founded the Blinn Wildlife Society and oversaw the expansion of the Agricultural Sciences Program to the Blinn-Bryan campus. He has been a member of the Texas Junior College Agriculture Association since 1997 and is former president of the Agriculture Consortium of Texas.

Pierce was named the Blinn-Brenham campus Teaching Excellence Award winner in 2002 and served as president of the Council of Division Chairs in 2011-12. Widely recognized as one of the state’s finest agricultural experts, he has been selected to serve as cattle judge for national livestock shows across North America, including twice judging the International Brahman Show at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, the largest breeding cattle show in the United States, and national competitions in Mexico, Guatemala and Paraguay. He also has volunteered as vice president, committee chair, and judge for the Washington County Fair Association.

Pierce earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Texas A&M University.

The ABBA holds numerous meetings, workshops, and trainings at the W.J. “Bill” Rankin Agricultural Complex located on the Blinn-Brenham Campus.

“To me, this is more of a Blinn College award because all of our staff goes out of their way to help the ABBA,” Pierce said.

The ABBA was founded in 1924 as the official breed registry of American Brahman cattle in the United States. Its original mission was to maintain parentage and ownership records of American Brahman cattle. Through the years, the association has grown to provide an array of member services, educational opportunities, and programs. Internationally recognized as a leading beef cattle association, ABBA offers a wide array of programs to assist the profitability of its members.

“This just shows the impact that Doug has, not only with the students in his classroom, but across the State of Texas and even internationally,” said Bryn Behnke, Assistant Dean for the Division of Agricultural & Natural Sciences. “For ABBA to recognize Doug Pierce and Blinn College is an incredible accolade for our program.”

Story courtesy of Blinn Communications