CALF_News_August_September_2019

47 CALF News • August | September 2019 • www.calfnews.net  Tell us why you read CALF News ! Go to our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/calfnews R ecollections BY BETTY JO GIGOT PUBLISHER Home for my visit with Fred Johnson in 1992 was the 155-year-old Spread Eagle Tavern and Inn in Hanoverton, Ohio. It was as exotic as one of the forces in the cattle industry I wrote about for the July 1990 issue of CALF News . “I don’t do that kind of thing,” Fred Johnson said when I approached him at a national meeting about writing a story about him. A few days later, Johnson called my office and told me he had read some of my stories and wanted to know when I would like to visit Ohio. It turned out to be an adventure and the beginning of a firm friendship. Following are excerpts from that July 1990 story. From a different place What makes Johnson truly unique in the cattle business is his background. Raised in the rolling hills of southeastern Ohio, he has no trouble remembering his first grade teacher’s name because she was his second through eighth grade teacher as well . Johnson grew up close to the numer- ous factories on the Ohio River and started supervising a production line in a china factory in his late teens. The family lived in Summitville, Ohio, and after high school, Johnson attended Penn State. World War II came, and Johnson ended up fighting with the 88 th Infantry in Italy, much to his chagrin. He wanted to be a pilot. “I would watch those P-51s flying overhead while I was plodding around in the mud and swore that one day I would fly one,” he said. The second thing Johnson did when he returned to the states was use his G.I. bill to take flying lessons. Eventually, he flew P-51s in air shows. Johnson spent 51 years in the family brick and tile business. That stint included a labor strike in 1939 that lasted 19 months. Johnson slept in the plant for six months of that. The family property, Summitcrest Farms, sported a treasure trove of hardwood trees and a red burning shale that lies underneath the surface. Used to produce bricks, the area is the only place in the world where that particular shale was found. Johnson invented a giant machine that sliced the layers of shale for harvest and then had the land reclaimed and turned into grassland. The cattle part Johnson brought all of his manage- ment skills to the table when taking charge of the cattle herd started by his folks. He brought in experts when the first dwarf calf was born and quickly sorted the pedigrees down to half. His interest in genetics led to a herd of Red Angus and then one very flighty herd of Belted Galloways. “We kept them in a pasture across the way and they were impossible to move. When we wanted to take them from one pasture to another, we would open the gate, and then the crew would hide behind the bushes and wait for them to wander through. If they got spooked it would take days to get them moved.” Eventually the move was made to Black Angus and they developed a breeding program that relied heavily on artificial insemination. Sire selection was a top priority. They started raising bulls for commercial ranchers and found that all bulls did not prove to deliver the quality. Those they fed in their own feedlot and watched to see how they graded. Always an advocate for “if you raise better, you should be able to sell for more money,” Johnson supported the Certified Angus Beef® Program, which was more than likely his most valuable contribu- tion in a lifetime of achievements. “It was the vision, business expertise and determination of Fred Johnson that enabled the Certified Angus Beef Program to survive the turbulent waters of branded beef marketing, which have sunk most other programs,” said Mick Colvin, CAB executive director. A worthy tribute to a truly deserving cattleman. NEXT TIME: DOWN AUSTRALIA WAY.  Looking for a healthy serving of history, along with a generous portion of tasty Certified Angus Beef®? Do dishes like smoked ribeye steak with wild mushroom compote, strip steak with roasted red pepper relish or Oriental Angus with Chinese chips tempt your palate? How about a night’s stay in the Thomas Jefferson room, which has a fireplace in the bedroom and another in the bath? (Rumor is the room comes complete with a ghost.) – Betty Jo Gigot, CALF News , June 1990, story about the Spread Eagle Tavern and Inn.