At the 2023 Cattlemen’s Congress, Farm Director, KC Sheperd, had the chance to catch up with Ryan Rash, who is judging several of the breeds at Cattlemen’s Congress, such as Simmentals, Santa Gertrudis, and more.
“I grew up showing Simmentals in the junior program, and it really shaped a lot of who I was,” Rash said.
While having the chance to judge any breed at Cattlemen’s Congress is special, Rash said because of his background showing Simmentals, being asked to judge the Simmental breed means a lot to him. In today’s cattle industry, Rash said cattle are of greater quality and structure, which makes it an exciting time to be in the cattle business.
“Judging is just an opinion,” Rash said. “It doesn’t make mine right or wrong. On that given day, it makes it official in that ring. But, the important thing, or what I strive to do as a judge, is to try to describe the cattle as accurately as I can and why they are aligned the way they are, so even though you don’t have to agree with it, you can see and understand why it is done the way it is done on that given day.”
Rash said his passion is the cattle industry- especially the kids who work hard and are a part of it.
“You keep that at the forefront, and I really don’t think you can go wrong,” Rash said. “That is what has worked for me.”
Rash also has a podcast with Dale Hummel called, Beyond the Ring, which talks about the “ins and outs” of the show industry.
“This industry is the greatest industry to raise a kid, but with that being said, it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have problems, and we can’t do better,” Rash said. “The point of our podcast is to highlight what is really good but also to bring up where we can improve.”
