With the sudden passing of our friend and fellow board member, Rich McCasland, the ABA board took filling Rich’s seat very seriously and welcomed John Barnes to the ABA Board of Directors in December of 2021.

John was raised in Wilson County, NC. He grew up showing many species of livestock in 4-H, including cattle, hogs, lambs, goats, and turkeys. John competed in livestock judging competitions in 4-H, which sparked his interest in livestock evaluation. He was especially interested in beef cattle. In pursuit of his dreams, John went to college in Kansas at Butler community college and Kansas State University, competing on their collegiate livestock judging teams while earning undergraduate degrees. John was a member of the Reserve National Championship Livestock Judging team at Kansas State. In line with his entrepreneurial spirit, he completed post-graduate studies and earned an MBA.

His entire adult life has been spent raising purebred and commercial cattle and for the last several years, purebred Berkshire hogs. He has managed purebred cattle farms, worked in the corporate office for a beef packing company, and has worked for an international company that specializes in breeding cattle. Today, John and his family own and operate Bravo Steaks specializing in high quality beef and Berkshire pork production and sales. He brings real-world production, marketing, and a true passion for the Berkshire breed to the ABA Board of Directors.