With Cattlemen’s Congress kicking off tomorrow, the Director of International Programs & Director of Operations, Erin Dorsey, has been hard at work putting it all together. Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster Ron Hays caught up with her to talk about how she has helped grow the event beyond the borders of the United States.
Dorsey previously worked for the National Western Stock Show and has been with the Cattlemen’s Congress from the beginning. This, combined with other experience working closely with many breed associations, gives her a clear understanding of the beef show cattle business.
As the COVID pandemic moves into the past, more and more international beef cattle enthusiasts are making their way to the Cattlemen’s Congress. “I work throughout the year on international stuff by providing outbound and inbound experiences for international guests. In the last two or three years, we have really seen an influx of visitors who actually have cattle here and/or are coming to purchase genetics from our breeders,” Dorsey says cattle producers have visited from Mexico, Canada, Australia, Singapore, Uruguay, Peru, and others. “We have had up to twenty-two different countries represented at Cattlemen’s Congress.”
Through the inbound and outbound experiences, Dorsey arranges tours for domestic producers to travel to shows and ranches in other countries and brings international producers into the United States to view U.S. genetics and see how things are done here.
The success of the Cattlemen’s Congress, since it began in 2020, has been meteoric. “We are the largest open and junior breeding cattle show in the United States right now, with over eight thousand entries,” Dorsey shared. “With that being said, for us to have the amount of livestock we do in the twenty-two or twenty-three breeds that come here and show, and then still have all of the auctions going on here – we have breed sales for nearly every breed that comes here – whether it is a live sale, a semen and embryo auction, an online auction, or any of the above.”
Dorsey pointed out how livestock shows across the United States have changed but is proud to say that the Cattlemen’s Congress is still a show that breeders are proud to hang their signage in and show their genetics at.
“At a lot of other shows, they aren’t doing that,” she said. “They are just bringing cattle into the barn, rinsing them, and taking them back out to tie outs. It is impressive that our breeders and exhibitors that come here still enjoy doing that and still feel like this is a good place for them to market their livestock and their ranches.”
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