Tom Boyer is a third generation rancher, and along with his wife, Carrie and their daughter Maren, he resides on the home ranch, Boyer Land and Livestock, in Coal Creek, Utah where he was born. He and his wife, also a third generation sheep producer, own Chalk Creek Boers. They are originating partners in NUSAA with Dirk Louw from Namibia, and Geoff and Ceilia Burnett Smith from Australia, and imported a group of Boer does bucks and embryos in 2007. They have a show wether goat flock, and a flock of registered Rambouillets that has produced several national champions, and provides commercial rams in the western U.S.
Tom is President of AGI and founding director and past president of the American Goat Federation. He sits on the Board of Trustees for the Appraisal Foundation and is past Vice President of the Utah Woolgrowers Association. He served as National President of the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers from 2005 to 2006, President of the American Rambouillet Sheep Breeders Association, and Vice President of the International Boer Goat Association. He is co-founder [along with Carrie] and first President of the Mountain States Meat Goat Association. He is Executive Director of Lifelong Learning Center in Evanston, Wyoming, and was Marketing, Finance & Economics Adjunct Professor at Western Wyoming College. He has chaired numerous national, state and local committees, teams and foundations. Tom is President of AGI.
Tom earned a Bachelors Degree in Ag Econ and a Masters Degree in Agribusiness from Brigham Young University. He also attended American University in Cairo, Egypt. In 1980, he created the TVB Management Company, which is a leading management, consulting and appraisal firm serving agriculture around the world. He has consulted with numerous international governments including Altima Financial Partners, London England in evaluating and acquisition of mega farms around the world. He consults with Halderman Farm Management [Indiana] on farm properties in the west.
Dr. Richard Browning, Jr. is a Research Professor with the Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at Tennessee State University. He will help direct identification of research projects and support efforts. His academic research areas are physiology and genetics in beef cattle and meat goats. He received a BS in Agriculture from Prairie View A&M University and both a MS and PhD in Physiology of Reproduction at Texas A&M University.
Some of his Publications include:
- Browning, R., Jr., M. L. Leite-Browning, and M. Byars, Jr. 2010. Reproductive and health traits among Boer, Kiko, and Spanish meat goat does under humid, subtropical pasture conditions of the southeastern United States. Journal of Animal Science doi:10.2527/jas.2010-2930.
- Browning, R., Jr. 2008. On-Farm Performance Testing for Meat Goat Herds. Outreach Bulletin #MGB 701.1. Tennessee State University, Nashville. 4 pp.
- Browning, R, Jr. 2004.Effects of endophyte-infected tall fescue on indicators of thermal status and growth in Hereford and Senepol steers. Journal of Animal Science 82:634-643.
- Extension: Genetic management and decision-making through breed evaluation and doe herd performance testing in meat goat enterprise.
Ron McGill was born and raised on a farm in central Indiana, and has been married to Bev McGill for 60+ years. They have three married children, Rhonda Overdorf, Teresa House and David McGill, 11 grandchildren and 14 great grandchildren with 2 more on the way.
Ron was a 10 year 4-H member and was an adult leader for 30+ years. He has raised cattle, hogs, quarter horses, llamas, chickens and dogs. For the past 20 years he has been raising meat goats, and currently has 120 head of registered Kiko goats and 30 head of registered Spanish goats. He has been involved with and a member of many registries and he enjoys sharing his experience and knowledge with them. In addition to farming all of his life he spent eight years working at Public Service Indiana (now Duke Energy) as Accounting Supervisor and Office Manager. After 30 years in the banking business, he retired from First Federal Bank in 1995, where he served as President and Board Member during the last 10 years.
Randy and his wife, Cindy, have owned and operated Lazy S-T Ranch since 1994. This is the family ranch that has been in the family for over 100 years. In addition to Boer goats, they run about 100 head of Hereford cattle. They have raised Boer goats since 1994 and have concentrated on raising colored Boer goats since 1998, and participate in Boer goat breeding shows. They have utilized A.I. and embryo transfer programs in their operation to rapidly increase the quality of their herd. They are also consignors to numerous production sales throughout the year.