by Lilly Platts
The World Simmental-Fleckvieh Federation (WSFF) Golden Book Award recognizes individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions to the development of the Simmental/Simbrah breeds. Two longtime Simmental breeders have received the Association’s highest honor.
Erroll and Gayle Cook, Walsh, Colorado
Erroll and Gayle Cook were early breeders of Simmental cattle in Colorado with ASA number 4086, issued in 1974. Erroll was manager of Achilles Cattle Company. He also managed the Artificial Insemination company from the Colorado State University (CSU) Bull Stud, collecting some of the very early Simmental bulls, including Parisien, Galant, and LaCombe Achilles.
The Cooks were instrumental in the formation of the Colorado Simmental Association (CSA), with Gayle serving as the association’s secretary/treasurer for many years. Erroll served onthe CSA board, with several terms as president. Erroll and Gayle were also active in getting the Simmental breed into the National Western Stock Show as a breed show and sale, which was no small feat in the early 1970s. In thanks for their dedication, they were offered an exclusive CSA Honorary Lifetime Membership.
Erroll and Gayle raised three sons, Brent, Chad, and Brad, while establishing a renowned herd of Simmental cattle known for the single brand, Bridle Bit. Their cattle were shown nationally, and excelled in the AJSA programs for their sons. Their program eventually evolved into a nationally known herd of performance cattle.
In 1986, the Cooks moved from northern Colorado back to Walsh, Erroll’s hometown. Both the family and their cow herd moved south so Erroll could take over the family fuel business. There, they established Bridle Bit Simmental as it is known today. Bridle Bit Simmental has been recognized for their pioneering efforts many times, including the CSA Breeder of the Year in 2024, and five times as the Colorado State Fair Premier Breeder and Exhibitor. Erroll and Gayle also were recognized with CSA’s Pioneer Award. Erroll himself was recognized in 2006 as the CSA Seedstock Producer of the Year, with the ranch recognized for the same honor in 2021, highlighting their continued improvements over the decades.
Bridle Bit is an ASA Performance Advocate herd and focuses on complete data and records to help improve their herd and the Simmental breed. They use embryo transfer to preserve genetics from their top-producing females. Their sale bulls are being developed using a C-Lock intake system to gain additional feed efficiency data. They have sold bulls through their All-Terrain Bull Sale into AI studs, and also have a dedicated base of commercial customers.
Erroll and Gayle Cook were instrumental in the establishment and growth of the Simmental breed in Colorado. Their highly respected seedstock operation, Bridle Bit Simmentals, continues to produce SimGenetics seedstock for commercial and registered breeders.
In addition to ranching, the family also owns and operates Cook Oil, which provides fuel products to producers in the very southeast corner of Colorado, as well as into neighboring Kansas. They have branched out that business to become a PowerSport dealer, receiving a district award from that ATV company.
Gayle passed away in March of 2011, and Erroll later married Peggy. The entire Cook family has contributed to the breed in Colorado and beyond, with Erroll and Gayle’s legacy being carried on at Bridle Bit Simmentals.
2025 Golden Book Award
Darrell Stiles, Cushing, Oklahoma
Darrell Stiles is a pioneer of the Simmental breed. Growing up on his family’s dairy operation, he took an early interest in cattle and breeding and became one of the first Artificial Insemination technicians and teachers in the country. This work brought the Simmental breed into his life and led to the formation of DarBill Simmentals. Darrell has had a storied career in the industry, and today his grandchildren, who affectionately call him “Papa Darrell,” are continuing the family legacy.
Darrell grew up on his family’s dairy operation, competing in dairy judging through high school. He had many successes, which inspired him to pursue an education in Dairy Sciences at Oklahoma State University (OSU). Shortly after graduating in the early 1960s, Darrell worked as a field man with Kansas State University’s Kansas Artificial Breeding Service Unit (KABSU). Artificial insemination (AI) was bringing new genetic advancements to the cattle industry, and he was on the first team of instructors to train farmers and ranchers how to AI their own cows.
In Kansas, Stiles embarked on an exciting venture with three friends and colleagues from KABSU (Ancel Armstrong, Charles Michaels, and Dennis Wells) to create Sunflower Simmentals. The group bought semen on two of the first four bulls imported into the United States: Fern and Capitan. The two bulls were owned by all of the co-op bull studs, which KABSU was a part of and the two Sunflower used. Bismarck and Parisien were also imported to the US during this time.
The group worked with cooperator herds to breed cows and purchase the heifer calves at a nickel above market price. In the summer of 1969, during those first pregnancies, Stiles returned to his family’s Centennial farm, Cabin Creek Farms, in Cushing, Oklahoma. In the spring of 1970, he and his wife, Billie, received their first ten weaned halfblood Simmental heifers from their partnership with Sunflower Simmentals, which started their own Simmental herd.
These females were later bred to bulls like Galant and Extra. With calves to register, Darrell joined the American Simmental Association with membership number 1638; this number would have easily fallen in the first 100 if he had joined when he first became involved with the breed, but he waited until there were calves to register.
Stiles bred some of the first black Simmentals through his upgrade program, which utilized grade Holstein cows from the family dairy. The larger breed had started transitioning to black at the time, and Darrell raised two very well-known and used sires, DarBill U Bad and DarBill Bad Monday. He also raised both the sire and dam of Bad Monday, which was one of the first black Simmental bulls to win multiple national shows. In the following years, Darrell continued to breed animals that were considerably productive in and out of the show ring, including a black heifer that won the AJSA National Classic in 1994.
Darrell was a founding member of the Oklahoma Simmental Association, serving many years on its board of directors. He has provided years of leadership to the agricultural community of Payne County, Oklahoma. Darrell has also been chairman of the county fair board for many years, and continues to serve on the county cattle producers’ board as well as the county conservation board.
The drought of 2011–2012 caused Darrell to nearly wipe out his registered Simmental herd. Fortunately, his grandson, Colt, is rebuilding the Simmental herd for his sons, Briar and Holden Burden. Now in his mid-80s, Darrell did all of the AI work for their herd until recently, and has now trained Colt. Darrell inspired a love and appreciation of Simmental cattle and agriculture in every generation that has come after him and made a lasting impact on the entire breed and industry.
Golden Book Award Recipients 1982 to Present
Jerry Moore, ’82, Canton, OH
Dr. Horst Leipold, ’82, Manhattan, KS
Dr. Harry Furgeson, ’82, Anaconda, MT
Don Vaniman, ’85, Bozeman, MT
Dr. Ray Woodward, ’86, Miles City, MT
Lou Chesnut, ’86, Spokane, WA
Jess Kilgore, ’87, Three Forks, MT
Arnold Brothers, ’87, McIntosh, SD
Rob Brown, ’88, Throckmorton, TX
Bob Dickinson, ’88, Gorham, KS
Tom Abell, ’89, Wharton, TX
Ron Baker, ’89, Hermiston, OR
Albert West, III, ’90, San Antonio, TX
Miles Davies, ’92, Deer Trail, CO
Henry Fields, ’92, Claude, TX
Dr. Earl Peterson, ’92, Littleton, CO
Colville Jackson, ’92, Gloster, MS
Ancel Armstrong, ’93, Manhattan, KS
Javier Villarreal, ’94, Acuna Coah, Mexico
Dr. Harlan Ritchie, ’94, East Lansing, MI
Bud Wentz, ’94, Olmito, TX
Kay Thayer, ’95, Bozeman, MT
Walt Browarny, ’95, Calgary, AB
Steve McGuire, ’96, Bozeman, MT
H.W. Fausset, ’96, Worland, WY
Hugh Karsteter, ’97, Cushing, OK
Nina Lundgren, ’97, Eltopia, WA
Don Burnham, ’99, Helena, MT
Dr. Bob Schalles, ’99, Manhattan, KS
Tom Risinger, ’99, Crockett, TX
Bill Spiry, ’00, Britton, SD
Bob Christensen, ’00, Malvern, IA
Kay Klompien, ’01, Bozeman, MT
Robert Haralson, ’01, Adkins, AR
Dr. Dick Quaas, ’02, Ithaca, NY
Dr. Jerry Lipsey, ’03, Bozeman, MT
Marty Ropp, ’03, Bozeman, MT
Jim Taylor, ’03, Wallace, KS
Dr. Joe & Mary Prud’homme, ’04, Tyler, TX
Dr. Bob Walton, ’05, DeForest, WI
Sam Smith, ’05, Prague, OK
Emmons Ranch, ’05, Olive, MT
Hudson Pines Farms, ’06, Sleepy Hollow, NY
Dan Rieder, ’06, Bozeman, MT
Silver Towne Farms, ’07, Winchester, IN
Gateway Simmental, ’07, Lewistown, MT
Dr. Larry Cundiff, ’07, Clay Center, NE
Reese Richman, ’08, Tooele, UT
Clifford “Bud” Sloan, ’08, Hamilton, MO
Sally Buxkemper, ’09, Ballinger, TX
Nichols Farms, ’09, Bridgewater, IA
Reese Richman, ’08, Tooele, UT
Clifford “Bud” Sloan, ’08, Hamilton, MO
Sally Buxkemper, ’09, Ballinger, TX
Nichols Farms, ’09, Bridgewater, IA
Triple C Farms, ’09, Maple Plain, MN
Linda Kesler, ’10, Bozeman, MT
Stuart Land & Cattle, ’10, Rosedale, VA
Powder Creek Simmentals, ’10, Molena, GA
Tom Clark, ’11, Wytheville, VA
Harrell Watts, ’11, Sardis, AL
Frank Bell, ’12, Burlington, NC
John Christensen, ’12, Wessington, SD
Bob Finch, ’12, Ames, IA
Willie Altenburg, ’13, Fort Collins, CO
Tommy Brown, ’13, Clanton, AL
Roger Kenner, ’13, Leeds, ND
Dr. Michael Dikeman, ’14, Manhattan, KS
Val & Lori Eberspacher, ’14, Marshall, MN
Hounshell Farms, ’14, Wytheville, VA
Verlouis Forster, ’15, Smithfield, NE
Jennie Rucker, ’15, Hamptonville, NC
Dr. Mike Tess, ’15, Bozeman, MT
Bill Couch, ’16, Owensville, IN
Billy Moss, ’16, McCormick, SC
Pine Ridge Ranch, ’17, Dallas & Athens, TX
Dr. Calvin Drake, ’17, Manhattan, KS
Jim Berry, ’17, Scales Mound, IL
Reflected R Ranch, ‘18, Sugar City, CO
Swain Select Simmental, ‘18, Louisville, KY
J.W. Brune, ‘19, Overbrook, KS
Doug Parke, ‘20, Paris, KY
Bob Volk, ‘20, Arlington, NE
Gordon Hodges, ’21, Hamptonville, NC
Steve Reimer, ’21, Chamberlain, SD
Fred Schuetze, ’21, Granbury, TX
Tom Hook, ’21, Tracy, MN
Kevin Thompson , ’21, Almont, ND
Parke & Nina Vehslage, ’21, Brownstown, IN
Scott Riddle, ’22, Hubbard, TX
Wade Shafer, PhD, ’22, Bozeman, MT
Gib Yardley, ’22, Beaver, UT
Hart Simmentals, ’23, Frederick, SD
Neil Martin, ’23, Lyles, TN
Cynthia Conner, ’23, Bozeman, MT
Jim Largess, ’23, Bozeman, MT
Cow Camp Ranch, ’24, Lost Springs, KS
Dr. Henry Allen, ’24, Versailles, KY .
