06/03/2025
A Seat at the Table—or a Seat at the Kids' Table?
The American Angus Association says they’ve taken millions from the Bezos Earth Fund to “ensure we have a seat at the table.” But we’ve seen that table. It’s not built for cattlemen and women—it’s built for billionaires.
At Herbster Angus Farms, we support sound research that strengthens the Angus breed and advances the cattle industry. Accepting funding to move that mission forward, however, should only be done when the source has a genuine interest in the long-term success of our producers. The Bezos Earth Fund does not meet that standard. It does not represent the interests of the Angus breed, the beef business as a whole, or the cattlemen and cattlewomen who have built this industry with generations of hard work and integrity.
Let’s be clear:
• Our data built this Association.
• Our cattle built this breed.
• Our families built this industry.
Now we’re told this grant—funded by people actively working to shift the world away from traditional livestock farming—is “just about efficiency”? That it’s harmless? That there’s a firewall?
We don’t buy it.
Because when you take the money, you accept the terms—eventually. When the world starts regulating methane, and policy follows the science (which follows the funding), who controls the narrative then?
Bezos doesn’t fund research to protect our way of life.
�He funds it to reshape it.
And if you're sitting at the table because someone paid your way in, you're not a guest—�you’re what's on the menu.
We urge the Board to remember who they serve:
�Not billionaires. Not activists. Not outside agendas.
They serve cattlemen and cattlewomen who built this breed.