Maybelle Castera Receives 2026 Arkansas Cattlemen’s Association President’s Award

Arkansas Cattlemen’s Association Presents 2026 President's Award to Maybelle Castera of White County.

FORT SMITH, Ark. — The Arkansas Cattlemen’s Association (ACA) honored Maybelle Castera with the 2026 President’s Award during the association’s Annual Convention & Trade Show in Fort Smith.

Presented every other year, the ACA President’s Award recognizes a member whose outstanding service, leadership and dedication have made a lasting impact on the association. The award honors an individual who consistently answers the call to serve, leads by example and works to strengthen both the ACA and Arkansas cattle industry.

Castera has built a legacy of service that extends from serving her country in the United States military to raising Angus cattle alongside her family. Throughout her involvement in agriculture, she has demonstrated a commitment to investing in others and leaving the organizations she serves stronger than she found them.

“Maybelle is one of those people you know you can call when something needs to be done,” said ACA President Don Hubbell. “She doesn’t serve for the title or the recognition. She serves because she genuinely cares about this association, its members and the future of our cattle industry.”

Castera’s involvement with ACA spans numerous areas of the organization. She has served as an officer in her county cattlemen’s association, mentored fellow producers, volunteered at events and become one of the association’s most dedicated membership recruiters. Her recruiting efforts have earned her recognition in both the ACA Top Hand Club and Century Recruiter Club, the latter recognizing individuals who have recruited more than 100 members to the association.

Her commitment to developing as an industry leader led her to complete both the Arkansas Cattlemen’s Leadership Class (ACLC) and the Arkansas Cattlemen’s Graduate Course. Through those programs, Castéra represented Arkansas cattle producers in Washington, D.C., meeting with members of Congress and advocating for issues important to the state’s cattle industry.

She later returned to help lead the program that contributed to her own development, serving as Chair of the Arkansas Cattlemen’s Leadership Class and helping prepare the next generation of cattle industry leaders.

Beyond ACA, Castera has dedicated countless hours to advancing the Angus breed through leadership roles at the state and regional levels while continuing to encourage and support cattle producers throughout Arkansas.

“Maybelle embodies what we hope our leadership programs inspire members to become,” said ACA Executive Vice President Michelle Bufkin Horton. “She took the opportunities ACA gave her to learn, grow and advocate for our industry and turned around and invested that experience back into other members. She continues to say ‘yes’ whenever the association needs her.”

The President’s Award recognizes Castera’s extraordinary commitment to service, leadership and the Arkansas cattle industry and her willingness to consistently step forward when called upon.

The Arkansas Cattlemen’s Association represents cattle producers across the state through legislative advocacy, education, industry development and promotion of Arkansas’s cattle industry.