Montana Beef Advocate Elected to National Leadership Role 

February 18, 2021

Andy Kellom of Hobson, Mont., was elected Region V Vice President for the Federation of State Beef Councils during the Cattle Industry Winter Business Meeting held virtually, Feb. 3-5, 2021. Mr. Kellom will represent the states of Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming, during his three-year term. 

The vision of the Federation of State Beef Councils, a division of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), is to build beef demand by inspiring, unifying and supporting an effective state and national Checkoff partnership. It provides a voice and performance vehicle by which producers and qualified state beef councils (QSBCs) collectively help give direction to the Beef Checkoff.

 “I’m looking forward to working with producers in our region’s states and supporting the Federation to build demand for beef,” said Kellom.

Andy Kellom was born and raised in Dubois, Idaho, and was involved with the family ranch from a young age. He attended Montana State University where he received a bachelor’s degree in Animal Science. From there he worked on the cowboy crew of the 1.5-million-acre IL Ranch in northern Nevada. He spent two years as the head cowboy for Harris Feeding Company, a 100,000+ head feedlot and vertically integrated beef operation in Coalinga, CA. He then became involved with the Montana Beef Network, a Montana State University extension program that dealt mainly with animal identification as it related to Montana ranchers. He was instrumental in the startup of Verified Beef LLC, which is a company that offered Source and Age, NHTC, and Never Ever 3 Natural certifications to cow-calf operations throughout Montana and surrounding states. Andy and his wife, Alison, also manage a personal stocker and cattle feeding operation.  

Kellom currently serves as a volunteer leader on the Montana Beef Council Board of Directors and as a director for the Federation of State Beef Councils. He is the general manager for Judith Basin County Farms Ltd (JBC Farms) which is a 20,000 head feedlot and 4,000 head stocker operation in central Montana. He has been involved with varying roles with what is now JBC Farms since 2011. Other industry involvement includes serving as president of the Judith Basin Stockgrowers and serving as chair of the Cattle Feeders Subcommittee for the Montana Stockgrowers Association. Andy also recently joined the board of directors of Hobson Rural Fire.

 For more information about the work of the Federation of State Beef Councils and the Beef Checkoff, visit www.montanabeefcouncil.org. 

Source: Montana Beef Council, Federation of State Beef Councils