Hereford Breed Remembers Orville Sweet
Hereford World
Orville Sweet, 83, died in Springfield, Mo., April 19. Orville will be fondly remembered as a leader and friend to the Hereford breed and livestock industry. He served as president/executive secretary of the American Polled Hereford Association (APHA) from 1963-79 and authored Birth of a Breed: The History of Polled Herefords – America’s First Beef Breed.
“Mr. Sweet was truly one of the fine gentlemen to serve the beef industry,” says Craig Huffhines, American Hereford Association (AHA) executive vice president. “And he had a wide sweeping influence in the livestock industry. Of all the people I have ever met that had the opportunity to work with Mr. Sweet, they all held him in very high regard.”
Orville served as a U.S. naval air crewman in the South Pacific during World War II. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Oklahoma State University and then taught vocational agriculture, managed a beef cattle ranch and was a beef specialist at the University of Georgia. After his years of service with the APHA, he was hired as executive vice president of the National Pork Producers Council. He worked for the council until 1989 and spearheaded the “Pork. The Other White Meat®” campaign.