Referred to as the “gold standard” of selfless service, Jan Lyons has dedicated decades to advancing the beef industry. Her leadership has spanned some of the industry’s most challenging and transformative periods.
Raised on a small Angus farm in eastern Ohio, her agricultural roots run deep, influenced by her grandparents, great-grandparents and father’s multi-generational farming approach. Her early involvement in 4-H sparked a passion for cattle raising and community engagement that would define her entire career.
Settling in the Flint Hills near Manhattan, Kan., Jan established Lyons Angus Ranch in 1977 with encouragement and support from her husband, Frank, and daughters Debbie and Amy.
The ranch started with the purchase of a group of bred heifers and a few select Angus cows from top breeders to serve as the herd’s foundation. By using artificial insemination (AI) and embryo transfer, she focused on selecting and breeding for economically and sustainable maternal traits.
She says their primary goal was not just to build a successful cattle operation, but to create an environment where their children could learn agricultural values. This family-focused approach became a hallmark of their operation, with multiple generations now actively involved in the ranch.
Today, Lyons Ranch is an LLC with three generations actively involved in ownership. Amy and her husband, Karl Langvardt, are owners/managers of both the south ranch near Alta Vista, Kan., and the north ranch south of Manhattan — where grandson Trey and his wife, Bailey, manage. Debbie and her husband, Duane Blythe, own and manage Blythe Family Farms near White City, Kan., along with their five children.
National Golden Spur Recipient
Lyons has been selected as the 2025 National Golden Spur Award recipient for her contributions to the ranching and livestock industries. She will receive the award at the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center in Lubbock, Texas, during the annual National Golden Spur Award Honors on Oct. 4.
“The National Golden Spur Award is the most prestigious national honor given by the ranching and livestock industries to one person,” explains Jim Bret Campbell, executive director of the Ranching Heritage Association and National Ranching Heritage Center.
Lyons rose through the ranks of ranching organizations, becoming the first woman president of both the Kansas Livestock Association and the Kansas Angus Association. She later chaired the Cattlemen’s Beef Board in 1996 and served as president of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) in 2004.
“It is not an exaggeration to say she is the ‘gold standard’ of selfless service to the ranching industry,” says Dee Likes, Kansas Livestock Association chief executive emeritus. “She has been one of the tallest oaks in the forest of iconic industry leaders and is deserving of the National Golden Spur Award.”
Lyons rose through the ranks of ranching organizations, becoming the first woman president of both the Kansas Livestock Association and the Kansas Angus Association. She later chaired the Cattlemen’s Beef Board and served as NCBA president.
Kansas Livestock Association
Lyons served as NCBA president in 2004.
Kansas Livestock Association
Industry Leadership
A passionate advocate for the beef industry, she viewed her role as an opportunity to be a part of some amazing beef teams to educate and help improve the industry. Her involvement in various committees and organizations was driven by a genuine desire to create positive change.
Lyons’ leadership during the 2003 bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) crisis was widely praised for its calm, science-based reassurance to consumers and producers alike. When the threat of mad cow disease loomed, she was supportive of developing a comprehensive crisis management plan and was a part of the team who enacted the plan. This proactive approach became a model for industry crisis response, focusing on scientific communication, rapid fact dissemination and maintaining consumer confidence.
“She is a true stateswoman for the beef industry, generously giving of her time and knowledge to help move beef production and marketing toward a more consumer-focused system,” Likes says. “Through it all — down markets and periodic producer upsets — she has led with personal warmth and humility rarely seen.”
A steadfast advocate for beef promotion and genetic improvement, Lyons played a critical role in advancing consumer confidence, guiding public communications and supporting groundbreaking industry initiatives like using the checkoff program to target demand building strategies and focusing on consumers.
“We cannot, as producers, stay in business unless we impact demand — demand for our product,” she explains.
Lyons says the industry’s survival depends on understanding and meeting consumer demands. By redirecting focus from production-centric to consumer-focused strategies, she helped transform how the beef industry approached marketing and product development. The program’s targeted approach allowed for more efficient use of industry resources, funding critical research and demand-building initiatives.
“We can design our programs and individual animals to produce what our customers demand for their breeding programs and ultimately produce what consumers want,” Lyons adds.
Collaboration was a core principle of her leadership style. She consistently emphasized the importance of unified efforts, believing that collective voices are more powerful than individual ones.
Leader on the Ranch
Lyons Ranch implemented innovative processes that set industry standards. They were early adopters of sire evaluations for their herd sires and DNA testing to improve genetic quality and higher accuracies and predictability for their customers, always maintaining customer-service-first approach. Their tagline, “your source for superior genetics,” reflected a commitment to providing value beyond simple cattle sales.
The family will host its 38th annual bull sale in March.
The ranch’s management model became a blueprint for family agricultural businesses. By creating a structure that allows multiple generations to participate and contribute, Lyons ensured the continuation of their agricultural legacy. Her daughters, and now grandchildren and great-grandchildren, are actively involved in ranch operations and each bring unique skills and perspectives.
“In my observations of her leadership, I have always been impressed by Jan’s first-hand knowledge of the industry because she has lived and breathed it working on her Kansas ranch raising Angus cattle,” says Jo Ann Smith, a fellow cattle producer from Florida who won the Golden Spur Award in 1990. “In addition to knowing the industry from the ground up, Jan also brought a steady hand to any of her leadership positions. She did not get flustered in the heat of the moment, as was demonstrated by her leadership during the BSE (Mad Cow) crisis while she was in leadership at NCBA. Our industry is indebted to her work with the team to keep the industry out of what could have been a complete disaster.”
Industry Accolades
Throughout her career, Lyons has been recognized with numerous awards, including 2008 Kansas Stockman of the Year and the 2022 Jay B. Dillingham Award for Agricultural Leadership and Excellence. In 2024, she received the Visionary Award from the Cattlemen’s Beef Board for her enduring impact on beef marketing and promotion.
Beyond her accolades, Lyons is recognized for her mentorship, consensus-building and unwavering dedication to the ranching way of life.
“Jan built a worldwide trust in American ranchers and beef, which helped lead us to the great market we have today,” says Jay O’Brien, fellow cattle industry leader and supporter of her nomination.
Lyons’ says her proudest achievement is passing to her children and grandchildren, and now great-grandchildren, her love of ranching and the respect and caring for the land and the cattle in the Flint Hills of Kansas.
Her work was driven by a broader vision of sustaining and improving the beef industry for future generations. Described as a rare breed of agricultural leader, Lyons is someone who sees beyond immediate challenges, thinks generationally and understands true success in agriculture is about more than production numbers. She is a visionary who transformed not just her ranch but helped reshape the entire beef industry’s approach to business, innovation and sustainability.
