"He would be immensely proud": John Reen's legacy shared with the world

John Reen might not have been at the World Angus Forum, but his legacy was clear for all to see.

The late Karoo Angus founder and his daughter Annie Scott were often joined at the hip until his passing last year.

He believed in the power of good people and good cattle.

While he didn't get the opportunity to witness firsthand some 250 guests, many of them international, step onto the Meadow Flat property as part of the AngusTREK pre-tour, Ms Scott made sure they were aware of his contributions.

One American attendee even commented to The Land, "it's more than cattle to her (Annie), you could see that".

The family-run beef business was established by John and his wife at Karoo some 36 years ago, firstly running Herefords and then moving to Angus in the early '90s.

As former dairy farmers, good pasture management was key, and remains a focus today as they run 300 registered females and 800 commercial females on just under 6000 acres.

"I think Pop would be immensely proud of the work and effort that went into today, not so much today, but just years and years of hard work," Ms Scott said.

"When we came here, this place was fairly ordinary in the sense of pastures, in the sense of fencing, in the sense of improvements, all that. So I guess what you see here today is pretty much what my Mum and Dad started."

The stud prides itself on being "built on generations of dedication to excellence in Angus breeding", so it was only fitting that Ms Scott was presented with the Dedication and Service Excellence Award on behalf of Angus NSW on the day.

World Angus Forum chair Erica Halliday told the crowd at the start of the day that Ms Scott's father was a wonderful man and commended her on keeping his legacy alive.

"I've seen Annie just take this beautiful herd and transform it into a whole next level, so I know that the genes are strong in your family, Annie," she said.

Today, Ms Scott is assisted by her husband, Tony, and son, Riley.

Her sister has also become more involved, and her brother helps as a mechanic.

Emerge Ag offers consultancy work.

The opportunity to showcase the Karoo herd to the world wasn't lost on Ms Scott, putting up just over 600 head of cattle for display in the pens and paddocks around their selling ring.

"[We want to show] that we breed good, honest cattle," Ms Scott said.

"We're passionate about the breed, and I think that we have good stock that promotes the breed as a whole, as well as ourselves, but promoting the breed today is what it's all about.

"We have had a few different tour groups come through, but...this would be the largest single-day tour group."

Their commercial herd is the "bread and butter" of the operation, and in March, the stud won the best presented pen of steers at the Blue Ribbon Weaner Sale, CTLX.

"It's the first time that we've won it, ourselves, but our clients have won it for a number of years," she said.