OCA Board of Directors elects new officers
Pictured, from left to right, aree Mark Goecke, President; Lindsey Hall, Vice President; Linde Sutherly, Treasurer; and Frank Phelps, Member At-Large. (OCA photo)
The Ohio Cattlemen’s Association (OCA) recently held elections for directors in districts 1, 4, 7, 10 and one at-large position. The new board then held a meeting to elect the association’s officers for 2024.
The newly elected board members are Joe Grubbs, district 7, Austin Cole, district 10, and Shane Riley, at-large director.
Joe Grubbs is from Kensington and is 29 years old. Grubbs represents the sixth generation on his family’s beef operation in Carroll County. The Grubbs’ family raises 80 head of commercial Angus cow/calf pairs. In addition, they feed out 14 head of freezer beef per year for local customers.
Grubbs has served on the Carroll County Farm Bureau Board of Trustees. He attended the 2022 OCA Young Cattlemen’s Conference leadership development program.
Austin Cole of West Alexandria is a full-time cattle feeder with 10 plus years of experience, the majority of which includes commercially backgrounding and finishing load lots. He farms with his wife, Lindsey, kids Kasen and Kooper, and her family in Preble County.
The Cole family participates annually in the Ohio State Fair Commercial Cattle Show and they have participated in the Ohio Wagyu Beef program. Cole attended the OCA Young Cattlemen’s Conference in 2018 and his family supports the annual Cattlemen’s Gala. In addition, the family enjoys competing in the OCA BEST youth development program and its stockmanship contests.
Cole currently serves as a township trustee and is the president of the Preble County Township Association. He also serves on the Preble County Land Reutilization Board and volunteers in various roles with the local high school.
Shane Riley resides in Washington Court House and is currently the chairman of the Ohio Beef Expo and chair of the OCA BEST Committee. Riley and his family own and operate Riley Family Show Cattle in Fayette County.
Riley is also actively involved in and treasurer of the Fayette County Cattle Feeders Association. Also, he is a senior vice president at Union Savings Bank headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio.
The directors elected to serve another term are as follows:
• District 1 – Jaymes Maciejewski, Henry County
• District 4 – Mark Goecke, Allen County.
2024 OCA Officers & Executive Committee
The new officers and executive committee for 2024 are as follows:
• President – Mark Goecke, Allen County
• Vice President – Lindsey Hall, Highland County
• Treasurer - Linde Sutherly, Clark County
• Member at-Large – Frank Phelps, Logan County
• Past President – Tom Karr, Meigs County
The Ohio Cattlemen’s Foundation also elected new officers.
Those officers are:
• President - Tom Karr, Meigs County
• Vice President - Jim Rogers, Hocking County
• Secretary & Treasurer - Elizabeth Harsh, OCA Executive Director.
OCA also recognizes and thanks retiring directors, Brad Thornburg, District 7 and Sarah Ison, District 10 for their years of service and dedication to the association.