In 2018, the Certified Angus Beef brand is celebrating 40 years of bringing the best Angus beef to consumers. The brand’s familiar logo will be painted on 40 barns across America, an old-school marketing approach that’s a tip of the hat to the farmers and ranchers who created the brand in 1978 and lead it today.
On June 29, guests, family, friends and community members will gather at Crooked Creek Angus, St. Francis, Kansas, to celebrate the painting of its barn—the 20th stop of the cross-country journey.
In addition, the Joneses have planned a full day of events open to the community at no charge. In conjunction with the Northwest Kansas Library System, a StoryWalk and story hour at noon will feature “A Mouse Named Tree,” illustrated by the barn painter, Troy Freeman. Freeman will visit with guests of all ages about the book, and how books are published. After a proclamation from the governor is shared and a CAB brand lunch is served around 1 p.m., guests can enjoy turtle races at 3 p.m. Then, at 6 p.m., local artist and teacher Peggy Moberly will host Beef, Barns and Brushes, a “wine and paint” course open to 30 participants. Guests can RSVP for Moberly’s painting course by calling Adam Jones at 785-332-6206.
We’re so excited to share this experience with the community,” Jones said. “We hope to have a great turnout for these fun activities.”
It’s exactly this sense of community the series of barn paintings is meant to encourage and celebrate, says Tracey Erickson, vice president of marketing for the CAB brand. “This effort is a tangible symbol of the valuable, and interconnected, roles farmers and ranchers play in guiding the Certified Angus Beef brand from farm to table,” says Erickson. “It’s an honor for us to join their efforts in honoring our roots: family farmers and ranchers who have always been at the heart of this brand.”
Few symbols represent vintage Americana like a barn, where farm life is centered from generation to generation and, oftentimes, celebrations held. Each barn has a unique story, much like the CAB brand and its family farmers and ranchers. The Joneses are representative of this heritage.
What started as a small 4-H project quickly turned into a registered Angus operation for the Jones family. In 1995, Daniel and Karen Jones purchased two Angus heifers for their children, Amanda, Adam and Katherine. Then, after a move to St. Francis in 1998, the family took the opportunity to expand the cowherd. Adam returned to the ranch after graduating from Colorado State University in 2005 to help. Today, Adam and his wife, Jeanne, own and manage Crooked Creek Angus, where they raise 225 registered Angus cows and sell heifers and bulls. “The strong ranching community of Cheyenne County, Kansas, makes our ranch an ideal place to celebrate the Certified Angus Beefbrand,” Adam said.
Freeman, of Free Sky Studios of Springfield, Illinois, 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 CAB brand, he enjoys meeting the farming families and learning more about their unique stories and backgrounds, 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, Florida, at Baldwin Angus Ranch, located along the well-traveled Interstate 75. The next barns to be painted will be in Nebraska, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota, with the journey ultimately concluding in October near the brand’s headquarters in Wooster, Ohio.