On July 26, guests, family and friends gathered at Hurlbut Cattle, Raymond, S.D., to celebrate the painting of its barn with the Certified Angus Beef ® brand logo – the 24th stop of a cross-country journey. Farmers, family members, neighbors and other special guests shared a meal with the Hurlbut family as they watched paint dry.
The gathering was one of 40 planned in 2018, as the Certified Angus Beef ® brand celebrates its 40th anniversary. Painting the brand’s logo on 40 barns across America is not just an old-school marketing approach, but a tip of the hat to the farmers and ranchers who created the brand in 1978 and lead it today, and a way to celebrate connections and community.
When brothers Jim and Dean Hurlbut set their minds to starting a junior heifer project back in 1943, they had no idea it would be the start of one of the very best show herds in the state. The family was awarded the Historic Angus Herd award in 1996 for 50 years of producing Angus cattle. Today, Jim and his wife, Janet, along with their son and his family, run the farm. Dean left the business after finishing college, but he still played a big role in the beef community while working for the American Angus Association® for more than 40 years. Jim himself served as president of the South Dakota Angus Association, just as the brothers’ late father, Lester, did. With 225 head of cattle to care for, the family stays busy while also planning and hosting two sales a year. “We are truly a family operation, with no hired hands and five generations deep,” the Hurlbuts say. “We eat, sleep and breathe agriculture.”
The Hurlbuts’ barn was painted by Troy Freeman, of Free Sky Studios of Springfield, Ill. Freeman is an experienced mural and large-scale painter for businesses, cities and townships, amusement parks, schools, residences and more, as well as the illustrator of 15 books and the founder of a graphics and web design business. While painting barns for the Certified Angus Beef ® brand, he enjoys meeting farming families and learning more about their unique stories, while celebrating their shared goals and values.
Painting takes two to three days at each barn site. The first barn was painted the week of Jan. 15 in Ocala, Fla., at Baldwin Angus Ranch, located along the well-traveled Interstate 75. The next barns to be painted will be in Minnesota, Illinois and Michigan, with the journey ultimately concluding in October near the brand’s headquarters in Wooster, Ohio.
(Certified Angus Beef LLC)