Bill Rishel To Be Honored with 2025 Saddle & Sirloin Portrait Award

William H. (Bill) Rishel of North Platte, NE, has been named the 2025 inductee of the prestigious Saddle and Sirloin Portrait Gallery. Rishel will become the 380th member of this historic gallery, and his portrait will be unveiled at an induction banquet held on Nov. 16 during the North American Livestock Exposition in Louisville, Kentucky.

During research for his nomination, Rishel explained, “Since 1966, the year I was privileged to be on the Penn State National Champion Livestock Judging Team in Chicago, l have admired the stories and lifetime contributions of previous honorees of the Saddle and Sirloin Club. I believe that early exposure to this special place was my driving force to not only breed a great herd of purebred Angus but also to become actively involved in cattle industry organizations, contributing my ideas and time to help make all beef producers more successful.”

Not many Angus producers can claim to have successfully touched every segment of the beef industry during their lives. Even fewer can say they produced a groundbreaking purebred bull that today has more than three million registered descendants going 11 generations back.

Bill Rishel can make both of those assertions. From his childhood days managing successful 4-H beef projects, to his animal science degrees and impressive livestock judging record at Penn State University during the 1960s, Bill was well prepared for a career in the beef industry. In 1975, with limited resources, Bill and his wife Barb made the bold decision to leave New York and move to Nebraska to establish themselves within the western cattle industry. With their three young daughters, Jill, Joy, and Judy, the bull New Criterion, 12 purebred Angus females, and a shared passion for good cattle and a vision of excellence, together, they began developing Rishel Angus at North Platte.

Bill Rishel’s distinguished, unselfish service to the beef cattle industry stands as testimony to the roots from which he originated in Pennsylvania. Early in life, he realized that hard work and determination were attributes needed for success in any endeavor. Always with an eye to the value of maternal inheritance, he crafted his own brand of genetic selection to produce game-changing Angus cattle that led the worldwide industry toward a more focused consumer product. 

Nominating Committee Chair Michael Bishop, PhD stated: “Our committee documented Bill’s lifetime commitment to the beef cattle industry as inspiration for future generations of breeders, producers and leaders. We are pleased that he has been recognized with our industry’s lifetime achievement award. It is our goal to tell the Bill Rishel story as an inspirational pathway for younger generations to courageously follow his footsteps of perseverance, hard work and foresight with every aspect of their careers.”

The self-described “fearless to a fault” Angus breeder has always been willing to seek wisdom from those he respects, to not be afraid to be in the minority, to accept change when it is predicated on real economic value, and to base breeding decisions on sound principles that will create success for all segments of the industry with the consumer at the front of the line.

Rishel has had many industry firsts and achievements through the decades. In 1974, Bill led a group of breeders, Genetic Breed Improvers, in the purchase of the first syndicated bull in the history of the Angus breed, Northern Prospector 14. In 1981, Rishel Angus purchased the bull, “AAR New Trend.” The commercial industry recognized the value of the bull and in 1986, Bill embarked on a structured sire evaluation program beginning with New Trend to measure carcass merit, place emphasis on quality and a satisfactory eating experience for consumers that continues today.  In 1990, a grandson of New Trend, B/R New Design 036, was born into the herd and later became a leading sire of Angus Pathfinder females and the foundation sire of all New Design Angus cattle. He was the top sire for Angus registrations in 2001 and 2002. Today, 036 is recognized as one of the top carcass quality Angus sires with over 3,200,000 descendants in the pedigrees of the American Angus Association.

In 1996, along with three of his bull customers, Bill attended one of the first organizational meetings of U.S. Premium Beef in Hays, Kansas. He became part of the first wave of producers to invest in the new model of the company as a value-added system in the beef value chain. The next year, Bill was struck by the fact he had been heavily invested in testing for carcass merit, but did not have an idea of what, if any, the value difference was between a superior individual and an average individual in the population for total product value. He contacted Glen Dolezal, then working at Oklahoma State University, to take carcass data from some of the tested sires and process it through the “Box Beef Calculator” Dolezal had developed to calculate retail value. From this information, the American Angus Association embarked on developing $Values that are criteria for genetic selection today.

During the last 60-plus years, Bill has received numerous honors, held dozens of volunteer leadership roles in state and national beef organizations and with education institutions, judged numerous cattle shows and presented many impactful presentations. In typical candor, Rishel asserts that he is most proud of his wife, Barb, and her partnership in their life journey and businesses, as well as their three married daughters and their daughters’ families.

A lifetime achievement highlight occurred last year when Nebraska Hall of Agricultural Achievement named Rishel its 2024 Honoree. University of Nebraska Chancellor Emeritus Ronnie D. Green shared that the award recognizes Rishel as an outstanding leader for all of Nebraska. He summarized, “Bill Rishel has led a life of exceptional servant leadership in the beef industry, as a master breeder of Angus genetics, an innovator in beef genetic improvement, and a strong advocate and mentor for educating the next generation of industry leaders.”

In 2017, Rishel Angus became TD Angus at Rishel Ranch when the operation was sold to Trey and Dayna Wasserburger. Bill and Barb Rishel were introduced to the couple by a banker friend who thought they would be a good fit for the transition they had long considered, and deeply desired, to carry on their life’s work.

So similar to a young Bill and Barb setting out from New York to Nebraska 42 years prior, Wasserberger tells the story of an extraordinary business succession, “In 2017, we purchased the entire Rishel Angus herd and ranch. There was never a negotiation. An accomplished, well-respected cattleman turned over his life’s work to a very inexperienced cowboy with nothing more than frank conversations, fearless eye contact and a firm handshake. Bill and Barb made it their business to help us succeed. I will never forget what it felt like to know they were there for us; to know they still believe in us.”

Upon learning he has been selected as the 2025 inductee Rishel expressed, “It is a privilege to know that my contributions of time, effort, and ideas were vital to improving the lives of my family, community and, most importantly, the beef cattle industry for all producers across the globe. I view this honor as a lifetime achievement award at the highest level of the agricultural industry.”

An original oil portrait of Rishel, painted by renowned artist Richard Halstead, has been commissioned and will be framed and hung when the award is presented at the North American International Livestock Exposition in November.

Visit the website www.rishelportrait.com to learn more about the Saddle & Sirloin Gallery, read the Bill Rishel story in its entirety, and make a contribution to help underwrite the cost of portrait and the event in Louisville, and establish a fund to provide perpetual support of beef industry research and development.