1984 Robert C. Price Angus Acres, Newville R. C. Price and Angus Acres are best known for producing Power Play 70, the bull that gained so efficiently when tested at Auburn in 1982 that it sold for $320,000, a national record. In business since about 1961 and keeping records since 1968, Angus Acres joined Alabama BCIA in 1972. Price chose to breed Angus because of its easy calving qualities, and he formed his herd with large heifers from Oklahoma when he retired from the Alabama Agricultural Department. He attributed his success in producing quality cattle from the use of AI and using accurate records. Price served on the Alabama BCIA Board of Directors from 1982-1985.	Price, left, sold the top Angus at the Auburn test, a half brother  of Power Play 70, to Bob Engel, right, in 1983.
1985 Mathew Warren Hall Bermuda Polled Hereford Farm, Midway The Hall family has operated this farm since 1882, and performance records have been kept since 1958. Warren Hall added the Gelbvieh breed to his operation in the early 1980s. The farm operates under what Hall called the “philosophical notion” that all cows should raise a calf. Hall helped start the first Central Grazing Test in the United States in 1978, after having been the first person to test bulls on forage. In 1985, his farm held the record gain of 3.43 pounds per day for a Polled Hereford tested on grass. Hall served Alabama BCIA as a grader from 1968 to 1973, and was a charter member of the organization. He was president of BCIA in 1984 and 1985, and was appointed to the Board of Directors in 1978.	Warren Hall consigned Auburn's 1983 top Polled Hereford to EA Nelson and Son. From left: Jerry Gulledge, Warren Hall, Mark Nelson.
1986 Harold Pate Pate Charolais, Lowndesboro At the time of his nomination, Harold Pate had been in the purebred cattle business for 20 years producing top quality Charolais, Simmental and Limousin cattle. He was an avid believer of performance records, including National Cattle Evaluation. To produce quality seedstock, Pate used AI bulls selected from National Sire Summaries and clean-up bulls from central test stations. Since then, Pate gained national prominence from the performance his bulls in Alabama Central Test Stations. Pate Charolais has produced numerous Charolais trait leaders. However, one of his most famous bulls, HEP King Grazer 25A, set all records for his gain on grass at the 1992-93 West Central Grazing Test. Pate was inducted into the Alabama Livestock Hall of Fame in 1987. He was president of the Alabama Cattlemen’s Association in 1977. He was also BCIA president in 1981. He was the American International Charolais Association Charolais producer of the year in 1997. He has also been active on numerous test station committees.	Pate consigned this bull to the West Central Alabama Grazing Test, where it sold for a record price of around $10,000.
1987 and 1988 Glynn Debter Debter Hereford Farm, Horton The Debter Hereford Farm has been in business since 1948 and began holding its own sales in 1973. The Debter farm’s focus in on selling bulls, and as of 1988 sold about 80 bulls each year out of a 265-cow seedstock herd and a 100-cow commercial herd. The farm prides itself on strict selection and culling requirements based on performance data. Glynn Debter joined BCIA in 1978 and later said this was a turning point in his program. Debter served as president of the American Hereford Association and helped develop performance standards for the Hereford breed. He has been active nationally and locally promoting his breed and beef in general. Debter won the national BIF award from this nomination in 1989.
1990 Ann Upchurch Grey Rocks Ranch, Selma Ann Upchurch was a strong advocate of performance testing in her Santa Gertrudis herd. She joined BCIA in 1973 and had an annual production sale, which helped her lead the way in making EPDs available for her breed. Grey Rocks Ranch opened in 1964, and in 1991 had more than 300 seedstock cows and 102 commercial cows. Upchurch was a charter member of the Alabama Santa Gertrudis Association and in 1990 became the first woman inducted into the Alabama Livestock Hall of Fame. She developed her own computerized record-keeping program and started her own on-farm forage test. Grey Rocks produced a National Grand Champion Santa Gertrudis Bull and a national champion heifer. She also participated in the Auburn Bull Test. A gift from the Upchurch family in honor of Mrs. Upchurch helped renovate Auburn University’s Animal and Dairy Sciences Building, which was dedicated to her in 1998, two years after her death.
1991 Buck Compton Compton Charolais, Nanafalia Compton Charolais has been in business since 1942 and is a strictly seedstock operation, selling bulls in an annual production sale and testing bulls at Auburn, where Buck Compton has consigned top-indexing bulls. Compton has also participated in the West Central Grazing Test, which he helped establish. Compton has owned cattle since his days in 4-H and FFA, and has been selective enough in building his herd to drive 5,000 miles to buy bulls from top-performance Charolais herds. Compton has served as president of five cattle and Charolais associations, including Alabama BCIA in 1992.
1992 Harrell Watts Simmentals of Alabama, Sardis Harrell Watts Jr. is a multi-generation cattle rancher and farmer from Dallas County. He is a pioneer of Simmental genetics and in 1974 became the first Alabama Simmental Association representative on the BCIA Board of Directors. He holds one of the earliest membership numbers in the American Simmental Association, 621, and has held the position of Chairman of the Board of Directors for ASA. He was one of the first early importers of Simmental bloodlines from Europe. He became a member of BCIA in 1971 and has served as a director. He has been active in BCIA both from the purebred and commercial angles and maintains both types of operations currently. He has tested bulls in the BCIA bull tests for many years and has placed highest in his breed division at Auburn and in the West Central Grazing Test. He has won commercial herd awards for Gold Star Cows. He actively participates in the Auburn Bull Test, Fall Round Up Sale, Herdbuilder Replacement Female Sale and the Sunshine Development Program.
1993 Bobby Hayes Dixie Cattle Farm, Billingsley Dixie Cattle Farm was established in 1961, and has been in the seedstock business since 1977, breeding Simmental, Limousin and Simbrah. Bobby Hayes joined BCIA in 1978, and as of 1994 sold 100 percent of his bulls to commercial herds. At one time, this herd was bred 100 percent through AI, but in 1982 only half was. Most heifers are kept and bred, but final selection is made after first calf’s record is available. Bulls were first centrally tested through BCIA in 1982, and in 1987 produced the top ADG of all breeds at the Auburn University Bull Test. The Hayes have six children who all were active in 4-H and were successful at local and state shows.
1994 Mack, Billy and Tommy Maples Maples Stock Farm, Elkmont  Maples Stock Farm is a family operation spanning four generations. The Angus herd was started in 1937 by Mack Maples, second president of the Alabama BCIA. As of 1995, the herd had 23 descendants of the original heifers purchased in 1937. The Maples have participated in the Auburn Bull Test since 1952, and also participate in the North Alabama Bull Test. The Maples farm has always been in on the latest innovations while maintaining practicality and performance. Each generation has held leadership positions in the industry. Billy served BCIA as an official grader and later became president. Dave Maples, third generation Maples, later became a BCIA field representative.
1995 William Womack, Jr. Rocky Creek Farms, Ashford  Rocky Creek Farms has been in business since 1941, and has both commercial and seedstock operations. The only outside genetics that come into the herd are through AI. Performance records have been kept since 1956, and the farm was a charter member of Alabama BCIA. The farm’s goal is to produce cattle that have equally high quality for all traits, especially in calving without assistance, breeding on time, growing at an acceptable rate and producing carcasses 1,050 to 1,200 pounds. The only goal that changed throughout the years was to cut back on harvested food and increase pasture use during the winter.
1996 Pete Coates Triple C Farm, Abbeville In 1962, Pete Coates came into the cattle industry raising dairy calves. After an expansion to commercial beef cattle, he became one of the top Limousin breeders in the southeast. He bought his first Limousin in 1987, and as of 1997 his herd consisted of 100 Limousin and 50 commercial cows. He has served as president of the Alabama Limousin Association and has been on several sale committees. In 1993, Coates purchased one of the top bulls in the breed for $46,000 from a dispersal sale in the Dakotas, and has received more than twice that amount back in semen sales. The farm is family-run and is a big supporter of youth programs.
1997 Ron Henderson Twin Valley Farms, Prattville Twin Valley Farms was established in 1971 as a commercial operation and possessed registered Polled Herefords for a time, but finally became devoted to Angus in the early 1980s. Twin Valley has supplied high genetic merit herd sires to commercial cattlemen and has provided an avenue for bull development and marketing to many smaller Angus purebred producers. Eighteen consecutive “Angus Spirit” production sales were held, and 12 annual bull sales sold a total of 1,289 high genetic merit bulls throughout the southeast. In 1995, Twin Valley earned the Alabama Angus Association’s Progressive Breeder of the Year award. Ron Henderson was an integral part of the Future Beef Concept, an endeavor that was ahead of its time. The Twin Valley Angus herd was dispersed in 2003.
1998 Tony and Terry Walden Walden Farms, Brantley  Walden Farms was founded in the early 1970s as a commercial operation and in 1987 started a registered Charolais herd, which now exceeds 500 head. There are two calving seasons, and the main goal of the farm is to produce bulls for the commercial market. There is an annual production sale each November. The feed-commodity barn is one of the best profit-makers of this farm. Animals are fed through rotational grazing and a large variety of byproducts. Tony Walden won two Conservation Farmer of the Year awards.
1999 Banks and Margo Herndon Homestead Farm, Hatchechubee  Homestead Farm was founded in 1979 with the goal of developing and maintaining a small herd of the highest quality Angus cattle that would strengthen the genetic base of other purebred breeders. As of 2000, the herd consisted of about 30 calves. Most of the farm work is done by the Herndons, who use AI and embryo transfer technology. The Herndons participate in several bull tests each year, and has had top bulls in these tests. Bulls are sold to both purebred and commercial breeders. Herndon has been president of the Alabama Angus Association, an Alabama BCIA director, and a member of the Auburn University BCIA Bull Test Committee.
2000 Dr. Tom Lovell Oak Bowery Farms, Opelika Tom Lovell purchased his land in 1980 and spent three years preparing it for commercial cattle. Lovell started his purebred Angus operation in 1993. Five years later, he initiated an embryo transfer program and by 2001 had six donor cows and 48 commercial recipient cows in addition to the 60 registered brood cows, which are all bred through AI. About 30 embryos are sold each year. Females are sold in the Southeast Angus Classic, which Lovell helped organize, and in Alabama Angus Association sales. Bulls are marketed through BCIA central tests and sales, where they consistently sell above the average sale price. Lovell was president of the Piedmont Select Heifer Marketing Program and first vice president of the Alabama Angus Association.
2001 William, Terri and Cameron Mayfield Triple "M" Farms, Brent  Triple “M” Farms has been in the cattle business since 1977, and began producing purebred Simmentals in 1983. The farm now has more than 100 Simmental brood cows, bred through AI, embryo transfer or natural service. Triple “M” has produced top-indexing bulls in the Auburn, North Alabama and West Central tests. Bulls are also marketed through the Sunshine Bull Development Program, and heifers through consignment sales. The farm participates in the American Simmental Association’s Total Herd Enrollment program. Mayfield has been a director of the Bibb County Cattlemen’s Association, director and secretary/treasurer of the Alabama Simmental Association, and a member of the Auburn University Bull Test Committee.