Trantham Is One of Two Recognized for Service
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Beef Reproduction Leadership Team presented Steve Trantham the Service to Industry Award on August 20 during the Applied Reproductive Strategies in Beef Cattle Symposium (ARSBC). This award recognizes outstanding contributions by individuals working in the artificial insemination (AI) industry toward the application or increased use of AI and estrous synchronization by beef producers.
Trantham, from Marshfield, Missouri, is recently retired from GENEX where he served 42 years, most recently as Associate Vice President of Regional Production Services. Merlyn Sandbulte, Rock Valley, Iowa, who is a Beef District Business Manager for ABS Global, was also a service award winner.
“In a word, integrity best describes the performance and professionalism of Steve. I had the privilege of working with him more than 40 years,” says Jim Pipkin of Clearwater Farm, Republic, Missouri. “He has been our ‘go-to’ if we ever had reproductive-related issues with any of our bulls. Producing a quality product has always been Steve’s mantra not only in the cattle business, but also in customer service.”
Jacob Holloway of URUS, Billings, Montana, went on to say, “I don’t believe you could meet more of a promotor for the AI. industry than Steve. He takes pride in providing ranchers with the opportunity to better their cow herds by using top-end genetics. One of the most rewarding things for Steve is to visit ranches and see progeny of bulls that he has worked with. He is humbled knowing that he was able to be a part of their success.”
“Throughout Steve’s career one of his greatest passions was to develop the next generation of bull stud employees,” Sarah Thorson, of GENEX, Glendive, Montana, added. “Over the course of his tenure Steve hired more than 50 University of Missouri students at the Strafford collection facility. These students received a lifetime of experience from Steve in bull management, semen collection, processing and exporting semen. In recent years Steve spearheaded the efforts of the GENEX Custom Collection facilities to meet the new inspection requirements developed in the Memorandum of Understanding between APHIS and Certified Semen Services. The written response, authored by Steve, has been used as a guideline in training workshops for APHIS veterinarians that endorse semen or embryo export papers. Steve’s dedication to developing young people and ensuring that A.I. facilities are properly positioned to do business well into the future is just part of what makes him so deserving of this honor.”
More than 260 producers, veterinarians, and representatives from the artificial insemination (AI) and pharmaceutical industries attended the Applied Reproductive Strategies in Beef Cattle Symposium. Justin Rhinehart, University of Tennessee associate professor and beef reproduction specialist, served as chair for the event, which was hosted in part by the UT Department of Animal Science.
The Beef Reproduction Leadership Team’s mission is to optimize the productivity and improve the profitability of cow-calf operations by facilitating the adoption of cost-effective, applied reproductive technologies.
For more information about this year’s symposium, visit www.appliedreprostrategies.com.