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Note to Editors: Adapted from the Kansas Profile radio series, this column profiles a different Kansan, Kansas community or Kansas-based company every Wednesday, as a regular feature of the K-State Research and Extension News lineup. A photo of Ron Wilson is available at http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/news/sty/RonWilson.htm. Released: March 5, 2008 Kansas Profile – Now, That’s Rural  “Excuse me, the New York Times is on the phone for you, and CNN left word that their camera crew will be here tomorrow.” Wow, that doesn’t sound like a typical day on a Kansas ranch, but it is a sample of what life was like for one beef industry leader when a crisis hit her industry. Yes, I said her industry, because this national beef industry leader is a woman. This is another in our series on national ag leaders from Kansas. Jan Lyons lives in rural Manhattan, Kansas. In 2004, Jan served as president of the National Cattleman’s Beef Association. Here is her story. Jan is originally from an Angus farm in Ohio. Growing up, she joined 4-H and got an Angus steer as her livestock project. That humble beginning was the start of a lifelong interest in the cattle industry. Her husband Frank is also from Ohio and was a medical doctor in the military. In 1974, he was transferred to Irwin Army Hospital at Fort Riley. Jan says, “We came to Manhattan and loved it.” After Frank completed his military service, he went into private practice in Manhattan. Meanwhile, Jan's love for the country led her to look for a place to live outside of town. They found a ranch on the McDowell Creek Road near Manhattan and started to put together a cattle herd. Today the nationally-known Lyons Angus herd consists of some 300 cows, including the ones managed by the Lyons’ daughter and son-in-law in Wabaunsee County. Daughter Amy and her husband Karl Langvardt live on a ranch near the rural town of Alta Vista, population 434. Now, that’s rural. Daughter Debbie is also in the cattle business. She and her husband Duane Blythe raise Angus cattle as well. Both daughters graduated from K-State in agriculture, and both were state 4-H winners in beef. Sounds like it ran in the family. Jan enjoys the cattle business and built up the herd through the years. She says, “We are a purebred operation, selling bulls and replacement heifers as seedstock to the commercial cattle industry.” The family conducts a bull sale annually on the first Monday in March. For more information, go to www.lyonsranch.com. Because Frank was busy with his medical practice, Jan was the one who got involved with beef industry organizations. She was the first woman to serve as president of the Kansas Angus Association. In 1994, during the Kansas Livestock Association’s centennial year, she became the first woman to serve as president of that organization. She served on the Kansas Beef Council in the 1980s and 1990s, including a stint as chairman, and on the Cattleman’s Beef Board where she chaired the group that oversees the national beef checkoff. Most recently, Jan was selected as 2008 Stockman of the Year by K-State’s Department of Animal Sciences and Industry. But in January 2003, Jan was elected President-Elect of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association - one of only two women to have ever held that post. As she was preparing to take office at the organization’s next national convention, a major news story broke on December 23, 2003. For the first time ever, a cow had been found in the U.S. with BSE - Bovine spongiform encephalopathy. The press had a field day. Jan says with a smile, “I got activated a little bit early when all that hit.” The BSE issue would become a dominant issue of her year as president. Jan says, “We as an industry were able to come out very quickly with facts and targeted messages to allay the fears of the consumer. BSE had already been found in other countries, so we were prepared. When the story hit, we had scientific facts to prove and show the safety of our product to the consumer.” Whether it was the New York Times or CNN, when the BSE crisis hit a few years ago, the national media ended up calling the Lyons Ranch near Manhattan, Kansas. We commend Jan Lyons for stepping up into this role and giving leadership to the beef industry nationally. And
there’s more. Next week we’ll learn about how the national agricultural
leadership from Kansas reaches all the way to include our youth. K-State Research and Extension is a short name for the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, a program designed to generate and distribute useful knowledge for the well-being of Kansans. Supported by county, state, federal and private funds, the program has county Extension offices, experiment fields, area Extension offices and research centers statewide. Its headquarters is on the K-State campus in Manhattan. For more
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