The American Brahman Breeders Association (ABBA) dedicated the ABBA National Show to longtime Brahman breeder and past ABBA President Carl Fontenot on November 12, 2022.
He was joined by his wife Gayle, along with family and friends, for this honor in the arena at the show. Carl grew up in the small town of Vidrine, Louisiana where he was raised on his family’s commercial cattle operation. In the early 70’s he purchased a few Brahman bulls for his commercial herd.
After that, his passion for the Brahman breed took off. He soon started his own red Brahman herd after purchasing several red Brahman heifers. His three children, Chad, Craig, and Vicky began showing red Brahmans at local 4-H shows. After Chad won first place with his red Brahman heifer at the LSU State Show, the family got more serious about their herd and Fontenot’s Red Brahmans was started.
In 1975, Carl joined the Louisiana Brahman Association (LBA) and ABBA. Carl went on to serve as President of LBA and then President of ABBA. His children became involved in both LJBA and AJBA. All three of his children have served as President of LJBA, as well as directors and officers of AJBA and Craig even followed in his father’s footsteps as President of ABBA in 2019.
Also Vicky was honored to be the first recipient of the Shawnee Bailey Memorial Award (Outstanding AJBA Member Award). Today, Carl is known as “Pop” to his 8 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren. While much has changed since Carl purchased his first Brahman cattle, the goal of the family operation remains the same- always looking to improve the quality of the herd.
When he was first elected President of ABBA Carl stated, “The greatest asset that the industry has is people. Getting people involved is the backbone of any successful operation.”
