In memoriam: Roy Wallace


Roy Allen Wallace, 63, passed away while attending The National Western Livestock Show in Denver Colorado on Sunday January 20, 2008. He was born February 15, 1944 to Ralph and Marguerite (March) Wallace of Scotch Ridge, Ohio, both precede him in death.

Roy, never married, is survived by sister Mary (Bill) Van Horn, Mt Gilead, Ohio,brother George (Roma) Wallace, Burgoon, Ohio, brother David Wallace, Perrysburg, Ohio, sister Ann (Larry) Hayward, Hillsboro, Texas. Roy had numerous extended family, including 6 nephews 4 nieces as well as great nieces, great nephews, numerous cousins, and friends, co workers and colleagues in the beef industry that he considered family.

Roy graduated from Eastwood High School in 1962, played on Eastwood’s first football team and served as Eastwood’s first FFA chapter president.

Roy graduated from The Ohio State University in June 1967. He was a member of the meats judging team in 1965 and the general livestock judging team in 1966. He served as a Saddle and Sirloin officer, Delta Theta Sigma officer, Alpha Chapter, and as overall livestock chairman of the Little International. He has been honored with The Ohio State University College of Agricultural and Home Economics Young Professionals Award and was inducted into The Ohio State University Animal Science Hall of Fame.

In 1967, Roy joined Central Ohio Breeding Association as beef field representative, and in 1969, he joined the Select Sires Inc. staff as beef sire analyst. He was later promoted to vice-president, beef programs. During his tenure at Select Sires, Roy acquired more than 600 beef bulls from 19 breeds to be marketed throughout the world.

Roy Wallace was one of an original group of cattlemen that helped form the Beef Improvement Federation (BIF), a group that has molded genetic evaluations into what they are today. He served as a member and board member of BIF and the only person to have attended every BIF convention, from 1967 through 2007. He served as a member and chairman of the reproduction committee and a member of the sire evaluation committee. He was awarded with BIF’s Continuing Service Award and the Pioneer Award, and co-authored the BIF 25-year history, Ideas into Action.

Roy Wallace was a past president and board member of the Buckeye Beef Improvement Association, the National Cattlemen’s Association and the Ohio Cattlemen’s Association. In addition, he served on the technical committee for the American Angus Association and on the performance committee for the American Simmental Association. He was also a chairman and member of the beef development committee of National Association of Animal Breeders (NAAB) and a member of the Beef Reproduction Leadership Team.

In 2004, Roy Wallace was recognized as one of BEEF Magazine’s Top 40, an honor given to 40 people that had made major contributions to the beef industry throughout the past 40 years. He was a leader in the areas of sire evaluation, progeny testing and estrus synchronization in the United States and throughout the world, and was a frequent speaker on these topics.

The influence of Roy Wallace on the beef cattle industry spans over 40 years. He spent his entire working life in the pursuit of producing better beef cattle through improved genetics.

Always a strong proponent of performance testing, Wallace served in an advisory capacity to several breed associations in the area of sire evaluations. A strong supporter of national sire summaries, he was an early adopter of structured sire evaluations. He established the longest-running young sire progeny-testing program in the A.I. industry today – a program that has identified superior genetics in several breeds. His early acceptance and promotion of EPDs as a tool to make genetic progress helped to make EPDs well known in the beef cow-calf industry.

Wallace was involved in the early selection and importation of several European breeds in the 1970s; these breeds have made a significant contribution to U.S. beef cattle improvement.

Wallace’s selection of bulls with genetics for lighter birth weights allowed breeders to use proven calving-ease bulls on virgin heifers, reducing calving problems without sacrificing performance.

He recognized the value of both carcass and ultrasound evaluations early on, and identified several industry-leading bulls which have been very influential in improving the carcass component of beef cattle. Throughout his career, Wallace was dedicated to finding better ways to get beef cows bred artificially to genetically superior bulls. Some of his early work involved feeding progesterone to beef cattle, a technique which evolved into the very successful MGA programs that are widely used today. Recently, through collaborative research with reproductive researchers at several major universities, Wallace helped to develop several effective A.I. synchronization programs, including Select Synch and CIDR-Select.

In a position in which a single bull selection can potentially influence both thousands of head of cattle as well as the livelihood of thousands of beef producers, Roy Wallace shouldered this burden with a smile, while always looking for new ways to make beef cattle better. His logic, along with an uncanny ability to look ahead, has enabled beef producers worldwide to take advantage of better beef genetics.

Roy Wallace was a visionary, a thinker, a teacher, a mentor, a cattleman and a friend. He loved good cattle, but more importantly, he loved the people that he had the opportunity to work with. He left a big footprint on the beef industry. He will be missed by many.

Memorials can be sent to The Ohio State University, The Department of Animal Sciences, c/o Dr. James E. Kinder, Chair, Roy Wallace Memorial, 2029 Fyffe Road, Columbus, Ohio, 43210.