Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster, Ron Hays, is talking with Jarold Callahan about the start of Cattlemen’s Congress and the award he will be receiving on November 12 in Louisville, Kentucky.
Callahan has been named the 2023 inductee of the prestigious Saddle and Sirloin Portrait Gallery. He will be the 378th member of the gallery, and his portrait will be unveiled during an induction banquet held on November 12 during the North American Livestock Exposition.
As President of Express Ranches, Callahan oversees one of the largest seed stock operations in North America, and he has also been at the forefront of bringing forward the newest major livestock show in North America: Cattlemen’s Congress.
During Covid, many major livestock shows were canceled, Callahan said, so with the help of many, Cattlemen’s Congress in Oklahoma City was born.
“We called the breed associations and had all the breed associations come into Oklahoma City, and the breed association members were hungry for it,” Callahan said.
From the beginning, the message to the breed associations was that the Cattlemen’s Congress is a cattle show for cattle people.
“The breed associations pick their own judges,” Callahan said. “We don’t pick them. We don’t ask the breed associations for any money…”
The economic impact of Cattlemen’s Congress, Callahan said, is the largest of any event held at the fairgrounds.
“We try to make it very user-friendly,” Callahan said.
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