creates a little household competition during college football and basketball seasons. Jack and Mary Ann married in 1991 and began their own journey in the seedstock business. At the time, Jack was managing Three Rivers Angus, Roanoke, Ind. In 1997, Jack and Mary Ann had the opportunity to become managing partners of Maple Lane Angus, Shipshewanna, Ind. with Keith Lambright and his family. Maple Lane Angus purchased the Three Rivers herd in its entirety, which served as the foundation for the partnership. Jack and Mary Ann both agree their partnership with Keith and his family was special and opened some doors for them to grow and build an incredible seedstock herd. It also enabled Cameron and Carter to start purchasing a few cows. Looking back, there were certainly a couple of cow families that had a tremendous impact on our program’s growth and continue to have an impact in the industry today. Our foundation cow was SVF Forever Lady 1120. Over time, she accounted for more than $1 million in total sales for her owners: Maple Lane Angus, Waldeck Farms and Eaglestone Farms. This cow continues to impact our herd through her son, TRA Forever and Ever 608. Another son out of 1120, Maple Lane Forever Ready, continues to be used in progressive breeding programs. However, the 1120 cow may be most famous for her daughters sired by the legendary AAR New Trend. There were a number of those females, and they are still seen in pedigrees across the industry. Carter successfully showed a daughter of Forever and Ever — an 1120 great granddaughter — during the 2012 show season. In 2003, the Ward Family dispersed the Maple Lane Angus cowherd and moved to Plattsburg, Mo. when Jack accepted the position of chief
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operations officer and director of breed improvement for the American Hereford Association. This really brought things full circle as Mary Ann’s family had a long and strong history with the Hereford breed. Plus, Jack’s dad managed Fields Hereford Farm, Battle Ground, Ind., for a number of years in the late 1970s. Bob Fields had purchased the entire Egypt Valley Hereford cowherd, and during this time, Jack worked closely with his dad on the diversified
farming operation. Jack and his sister showed Hereford cattle on the local, state and national levels. Jack participated in the Junior National Hereford Expo showmanship contest in the late 70s when it was at the old Ak-Sar-Ben show grounds in Omaha, Neb. In 2015, the American Hereford Association named Jack its executive vice-president. In 2003, Cameron competed at his first National Junior Angus Show in
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