Jim Courtney, Alzada; Lawrence Duncan, Wingate, Ind .; Bob Harrell, Baker City, Ore .; and Dale Micheli, Fort Bridger, Wyo., were inducted into the Hereford Hall of Fame Oct. 23 in Kansas City, Mo., during the American Hereford Association (AHA) Annual Meeting and Conference.

The Hall of Fame honor annually recognizes breeders who have dynamically influenced the direction and advancement of the Hereford breed.

"We congratulate these four men for the impact they have made on the Hereford breed," Jack Ward, AHA chief executive officer, said. "Their dedication to the breed is inspiring, and I am honored to induct them into the Hereford Hall of Fame."

In 1916, Courtney's father homesteaded the land in southeastern Montana that is now Courtney Herefords. Eventually, his father purchased adjoining land in 1929 right before the Great Depression. Despite the hard times, Courtney's parents raised sheep and kept the ranch together through the 1930s. Courtney graduated from Carter County High School, where he met his future wife, Hazel. He was the 1950 Carter County class salutatorian, but did not go to college. Instead, he returned home to help his parents run the ranch. He continued to build his knowledge and gain insight to the livestock industry by attending many Extension classes related to sheep and cattle breeding. However, Courtney credits most of his knowledge to direct experience on the ranch. When Jim and Hazel married in 1953, there was not a cow or bull on the place - just 1,000-1,500 head of sheep.

In 1957, Courtney's friendship with neighbor, Walt Crago, led to the beginning of Courtney Herefords. Crago raised registered Herefords and offered to lease 40 heifers to Courtney. All were half-sisters making a solid genetic foundation for the start of the future Courtney herd. Courtney leased the Hereford females for three years, retained the heifer calves and sent the bull calves to Walt. The semi-arid, Badlands grassland and limited water resources where the Courtneys reside was considered traditional sheep country since the early days of open range and early settlement. Yet, through diligent stewardship of land and water, Courtney established a registered Hereford cow herd and built one of the breed's most respected seedstock programs in this challenging environment. In both the cattle and sheep industries, the Courtney brand is recognized for outstanding quality and functional, efficient stock that fit their climate - the result of a good stockman's eye and a continued quest to improve performance with each generation.

With more than 50 years dedicated to its breeding program, Courtney Herefords became one of the most unique gene pools in the American Hereford breed. Founded upon the Real Prince Domino bloodlines from Canada's premier herds, Courtney built his program on structured line-breeding and outcrossing based on time-proven genetics. Courtney's range country environment and the needs of their bull customers strictly dictate the direction of their breeding plan. This is a true grass and cake outfit featuring a factory of great, problem-free, efficient mother cows that hustled, calved on the range and grazed out year round.

The Courtney brand is recognized for powerful, traditional Hereford cattle -multitrait Herefords that accentuated the breed's long-proven strengths for soundness, fleshing ability, fertility and longevity. Loaded with quality, they were backed by the impressive Britisher, Ardmore and Standard Lad sires in North America. Courtney has a complete and thorough knowledge of Canadian Hereford genetics. He knows the cow herds across Alberta as well as any in North America, evaluating them through the eyes of an American cowman, which benefits his program and customers. Courtney became the American Hereford Association (AHA) president in 1999 at a time when the Hereford breed needed him most. Courtney was a fighter for his industry. Serving several turns as an officer of the Montana Stockgrowers Association and on the board of directors of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, Courtney is known as a man of integrity who will fight for the betterment of the industry. His no-nonsense style and straight-to-the-point attitude is, and has always been, about taking the side of the cattlemen. Deep down, Courtney always knows that you have to fight to sustain an economic and political environment for ranchers. His family has depended on it. As it relates to the Hereford breed, Courtney helped drive the AHA to focus on the needs of the commercial cow-calf industry.

About the American Hereford Association

The American Hereford Association, with headquarters in Kansas City, Mo., is one of the largest U.S. beef breed associations. The not-for-profit organization along with its subsidiaries - Certified Hereford Beef (CHB) LLC, Hereford Publications Inc. (HPI) and American Beef Records Association (ABRA) - provides programs and services for its members and their customers, while promoting the Hereford breed and supporting education, youth and research. For more information about the Association, visit Hereford.org. For pictures and additional news releases, visit http://www.hereford.org/media.