— A Detroit Lakes native has been honored for his work on improving genetics across the entire beef industry.
Wade Shafer was presented the Pioneer Award by the Beef Improvement Federation during the group’s annual research symposium in Amarillo, Texas.
Shafer, who now lives in Bozeman, Montana, with his wife, Kathy, was educated in Detroit Lakes and graduated from Detroit Lakes High School in 1980. His father, Gordon Shafer, was the Becker County extension agent for many years and later became the district extension director for northwestern Minnesota. The elder Shafer still lives on the family farm northeast of town, but no longer owns cattle.
The Pioneer Award recognizes individuals who have made lasting contributions to the improvement of beef cattle and honors those who have had a major role in acceptance of performance reporting and documentation as the primary means to make genetic change in beef cattle, according to the Beef Improvement Federation.
Shafer was raised on his family’s Shoestring Ranch near Detroit Lakes, where his interest in genetics and the cattle industry began. As the oldest of five children — and the only boy — Wade grew up deeply involved in the day-to-day workings of the ranch.
After graduating from DLHS, Shafer earned a bachelor’s degree in animal science from North Dakota State University in Fargo, then went on to Colorado State University, where he earned both a master’s degree and doctorate in animal breeding and genetics. His academic focus was on quantitative genetics and bio-economic simulation modeling.
Upon completing his education, Shafer returned to the family ranch, transforming what had started as a hobby operation into a herd of 500 head, with an additional 500 head represented through cooperators. At its peak, the program marketed up to 200 bulls annually before the herd was dispersed in 2001.
Shafer joined the American Simmental Association in 2003 as director of genetic improvement. While serving in that role, he led the development of two whole-life-cycle economic/genetic indexes, launched a whole-herd reporting system and transitioned the American Simmental Association’s genetic evaluation into the genomic era, according to the Beef Improvement Federation.
Throughout his career, Shafer’s focus has always been on improving genetics across the entire beef industry rather than a single breed.
As evidence of that, in 2010, Shafer co-founded International Genetic Solutions, which now includes more than 23 million animals of virtually all breeds, from countries around the globe. Since its inception, IGS has evolved into the world’s largest genetic evaluation of beef cattle.
Shafer was selected as American Simmental Association’s CEO in 2013 and has guided the organization’s significant growth while prioritizing service to commercial cattle producers. He defended independent genetic evaluation during a patent challenge and maintained the integrity of expected progeny differences (EPDs) and indexes.
Shafer’s leadership and vision have been widely praised by industry peers, who describe him as humble, principled and driven by service to the beef industry, according to the Beef Improvement Federation.
Wade and Kathy are the proud parents of four children and five grandchildren.
More than 400 beef producers, academia and industry representatives attended the organization’s 57th Annual Research Symposium and Convention in Amarillo, Texas. BIF’s mission is to help improve the industry by promoting greater acceptance of beef cattle performance evaluation. For more information about this year’s symposium, including additional award winners and coverage of meetings and tours, visit BIFSymposium.com.
Bowe covers the Becker County Board and the court system for the Tribune, and handles the opinion pages for the Tribune and Focus. As news editor of both papers, he is the go-to contact person for readers and the general public: breaking or hard news tips, story ideas, questions and general feedback should be directed to him.