Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster, Ron Hays, is visiting with the American Hereford Association’s Chief Operating Officer and Director of Breed Improvement, Shane Bedwell, about the 2023 Cattlemen’s Congress.
Bedwell has been part of the Cattlemen’s Congress board of directors for all three years the show has been in existence.
“I think folks here in the third year- they kind of know what to expect,” Bedwell said. “The first two years, it was all new.”
Exhibitors seem to be adjusting nicely to the pace of Cattlemen’s Congress, Bedwell said, and everyone seems very comfortable.
“This show has a long way to go relative to just traditions of some of the other shows out there, but you kind of see it on its way,” Bedwell said. “You look at the overall numbers of this show, and it has kept up pace very strong with where we have been in the last two years, and so that tells me that 95 to 98 percent of the exhibitors really like being here.”
It takes a lot of power to keep cattle comfortable in the barns and prepare to exhibit those cattle in the show ring, Bedwell said, so Cattlemen’s Congress staff has done a good job of increasing that power availability.
“They have updated the barns,” Bedwell said. “In some of the barns, you will see a higher amp power, and that has been nice.”
Cattlemen’s Congress continues to make upgrades each year, Bedwell said, and exhibitors notice those efforts. As for the Hereford breed, Bedwell said Cattlemen’s Congress attracts many Hereford exhibitors.
“We have seven national shows this year, and they are all over the country, but this is our biggest one. We will have our national sale here on Friday night and, of course, our pen shows, and our regular open bull and open female show and a great junior show.”
The American Hereford Association welcomes commercial cattlemen and women, and Hereford breeders to attend the Hereford Pen Show in the Performance Arena on Thursday, Jan. 5. for a luncheon. The Pen Show begins at 11:00 AM.
During the show, enter to win a W-W Livestock Systems Producer 640 Chute. Tickets for the complimentary Certified Hereford Beef luncheon will be available at the AHA booths located in the Super Barn and Performance Arena on Thursday prior to the show. Those who enter must be present to win.
“We are going to serve everybody a steak sandwich, a certified Hereford beef steak sandwich if you come and watch, and then we are going to raffle off a WW chute,” Bedwell said.
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