Kansas rancher Jan Lyons will be honored with the Beef Checkoff Visionary Award during the 2024 Cattle Industry Summer Business Meeting in San Diego, CA, this week. This award, given by the Cattlemen’s Beef Board (CBB), recognizes an individual in the beef industry who has demonstrated exemplary support of and commitment to the checkoff’s goals and vision.
Lyons and her husband, Frank, started their Angus cowherd south of Manhattan more than 40 years ago. Raised on a small Angus farm in eastern Ohio, Lyons grew up helping her dad and brother take care of their cattle. She and Frank, whose family farmed as well, wanted to raise their daughters, Debbie and Amy, to appreciate good cattle and the ideals and work ethic they valued so much.
Over the years, Lyons gave much of her energy and time to the beef industry, first volunteering as a 4-H leader at the local and county levels, and for the Kansas Junior Angus Association. Her volunteer efforts only grew from there, serving as president of the Kansas Angus Association in 1982, president of the Kansas Livestock Association in 1994, CBB chair in 1996, and, finally, president of NCBA in 2004. She also was a member of the Kansas Beef Council Executive Committee from 1990 to 2003.
“Jan has been an important part of the beef industry for decades,” said CBB Chairman Andy Bishop, a rancher from Kentucky. “She had a vision and an energy that made a powerful imprint on the people and processes behind the beef checkoff program. She saw the strength of early checkoff programs and the importance of having a consistent national checkoff message across all states. For these and many other reasons, Jan deserves the 2024 Visionary Award.”