A conversation about cattle with a cab driver

All the cowboys are coming to town. 

This week I'll be in Denver for that National Western Stock Show. The company I work for sponsors several of the cattle events, and the Boy's family will be showing their Hereford cattle. Throughout the week I will get in numerous cabs, and people will have several conversations about cattle and the beef industry. Today's conversation.

Cabbie: You here for the bucking bulls.

Me: Nope my family will be showing cattle here.

Cabbie: You ride bulls.

Me: Nope, we show these cattle in a showring.

Cabbie: Ah, and where do you come from.

Me: My fiancé's family brought 25 head of cattle up from Oklahoma, but people from all over the U.S. will be showing cattle.

Cabbie: Do you bring their food too.

Me: Yes, that came in a separate stock trailer. We bring grain and hay for the to eat.

Cabbie: How much does a bull weigh?

Me: Well taking a guess the big bull they have here might weigh 1,800 lbs.

Cabbie: How much do they sell for?

Me: Well they can sell for anywhere between $3,000 and a $100,000. (This is when you clutch the door real tight, and hope that they don't swerve off the road from shock).

Cabbie: (In shock) Per pound! For meat?!

Me: No our cattle here are for breeding purposes, we won't eat them. However, they do have really good meat producing genetics and the progeny from the bulls may go into the food chain.

Cabbie: Ah I see. Maybe I should get some cows.

It happens every time. But I love it. Nothing better than learning what the consumers think about agriculture in a cab ride down to the Stock Show grounds.

This is a video that I put together last year at the Stock Show. It'll be you a better idea of what will go on this week.

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The business end of agriculture

It's all rather confusing

Do cattlemen realize how confusing a cattle show may seem to anyone that walks up to a showring or the stall? I am sure some of my readers have been quite confused by a number of videos and photos I have posted. If anything I hope you can sense from the videos how exciting it is to be out there in the showring and be selected as winner of the whole show (Grand Champion). I posted a little bit about why we show cattle here.

During the National Western Stock Show the Boy's cousin came down the day of the Bull show to watch his family show. Now he has been to a cattle show before, and for a "city" kid knows quite a bit, but his comments during the show still cracked me up.

aka - Why are they taking pictures of the their butts and not their heads?

The butt or hip as a cattlemen might refer to it by is the business end. The end that makes the cattlemen money. In the hip we find the most valuable cuts of mean - like the loin, roasts, t-bones and ribeye. The front of the animal contains a lot more bone and less valuable meat, that is usually ground up in hamburger. 

Clik on this cutting cuts of beef chat to enlarge. Thanks to Loney Lane Farms for an image. 

You can get these cutting card from the American Angus Association. 

Have you been been to cattle a cattle show, and do you have questions? Let me know! 

Agriculture and the Cab Driver

Please take me to the Stock Show grounds

During the National Western Stock Show, at least twice a day, I was in a cab. And every time my driver asked me where I was going - at least half of the time it was to the Stock Show grounds for the show, and the other half of the time I am pretty sure they could tell where I had been because of the way I smelled.

Pretty quick a conversation started, where I was from, did I live on a farm, what do I do? Each time I was in that cab I was given an opportunity to tell my story. We talked about beef, what cuts to buy, different breeds of cattle, and how much they enjoy a steak.

A couple times they wanted to know if we were going to eat the ones in those barns, which gave me the opportunity to explain the difference between commercial cattle and seedstock or purebred cattle. I used this opportunity to let them know that we were trying to breed cattle with the very best genetics so that they would have a better eating experience.

They wanted to know how the cattle were treated, and were fascinated by the time we spent feeding washing, and "doing their hair."

One time I got in the cab, with my long black wool coat, hair done up, and Blackberry in hand. This driver was surprised to hear that I was a farmer, and thought it was cool that I had a Blackberry. I told him that farmers and ranchers use all kinds of technology.

Over and over again I was making a positive impression on these people, and allowing them to get to know a farmer. The part that made me a little sad was how many of them said that their uncle, grandparents or even a couple of them had farm animals around at one point, but they had all sold them and the farm. Times were just too hard.

I know the agriculture community will spend a lot of time traveling to shows, conventions and sales in the next couple of month. Do you have your story ready to tell?

NWSS - Out in the Yards

Sunshine and Hereford cattle

Well the Denver Stock Show is all over for me, but that doesn't mean the events have ended. Simmentals, Maines, Shorthorns, Charolais (all breeds of cattle) and the Junior Market animals are yet to show.

My week ended with a bang as the Boy's family couldn't of had a better NWSS. Grand Champion Polled Hereford Bull, Grand Champion Polled Hereford Female, Grand Champion Carload for the 12th year in a row, and Supreme Champion for the second year in a row, as well as numerous division winners.

All this made me think of two things. 1. These are good cattle. It wasn't by accident that these banners were won. Farms and ranches that are successful spend years building a program, selecting the right genetics, and finding out what management styles work best for them. 2. This also doesn't happen without amazing people. From the guy who makes breeding decisions, the person who feeds the animals everyday, the lady that keeps the records, and the crew that takes care and present these animals at the show - it takes all of them to create a champion.

You can read more about Star Lake Cattle Ranch's success on their NWSS Blog.

This is one of my favorite pictures from the whole show. It reminds me of my favorite photos from last year. 

The money making end. 

Grand Champion Carload NWSS 

Riding for the Brand. 

I'll get some more of favorites posted later in the week. 

NWSS Junior Heifer Show

And the champions are chosen.

Yesterday, was the Junior Angus Show at the National Junior Angus Show. It was again the girls walking away with the Champion banner. It was an especially exciting day for Lindsey. Although, her and her sister are no strangers to the showring, this was the first major Junior Show that Lindsey has won. It was even that much more meaningful as she is approaching the end of her junior show career. I hope you enjoy the video.



And thank-you to all the people that have been joining me on my blog. I know that a lot of you are new visitors to Crystal Cattle and I appreciate you stopping by!

NWSS Angus Bull Show video

The cameras are rolling.

Yesterday was the Angus Bull Show at the National Western Stock Show. One thought did cross my mind when these two bulls were selected. I thought it was pretty neat to see two junior members winning Champion and Reserve. Both Katy Satree and Britney Creamer have sold part of their bulls to other breeders, but I think it speaks a lot for youth cattle programs to see them competing successfully with the big guns.

Walt Browarny - legendary cattle photographer

My front foot forward. 

My sister and I grew up attending cattle show with my parents. Showing livestock is amazing way to learn responsibility, caring for others, all the things that come with winning and losing and how to make life long friendships.

At each show after I was done in the showring I would we would head to the photo backdrop to have our photo captured, and for probably 80% of the photos that were taken of me were taken by Walt Browarny, or the amazing team of photographers he has lined up. Today, the Browarny name is also known under the Show Champions brand, and they'll be in Denver all week snapping photos.

I remember one of my proudest moments at the show photo backdrop is when I walked my heifer in and Walt said stop right they, don't move a foot. Walt never said don't move a foot. He always had a foot to move an inch here or there. I was grateful to work for Browarny's during college. Again many lessons were learned.

I think you'll enjoy this I am Angus video that was put together on Walt Browarny.

National Western Stock Show photographs

Almost like Christmas.

If you show cattle than the National Western Stock Show is probably all you have been talking about for the last two weeks. People are excited and I can't wait to get there. For those of you who aren't familiar with showing cattle or wonder why we do it, it is a great way to display and market our livestock.

The cattle that will be in Denver are mostly purebred cattle or also know as seedstock. These are the cattle with superior genetics. They might grow faster, be more efficient or have superior marbling and tenderness genetics, which will ultimately lead to a better eating experience for you. The beef we eat mostly comes from commercial cattle (cattle of mixed breeds). It is these purebred bulls being bred to commercial cattle that is increasing the quality of product. Clear as mud. If you have questions don't be afraid to ask.

I wanted to share a few of my favorite photos that I have taken at Denver.

Be sure to visit the Crystal Cattle facebook page to see all my favorite National Western Stock Show photos. 

National Western Stock Show - the fisheye

Just a few more photos

It still seems like Denver ended just a few days ago. I'm really missing it. I mean my girlfriends and I had a really, really good time. It might be hard to top in 2011. I wanted to leave you with a few more photos. These were all taken with my fisheye lens. You can read more about my camera and lens here.  And you can look at some of my favorite Denver photos here. 

Where all the magic happens.

Having the final say.

The view from above the pen show.

National Western Stock Show - Wordless Wednesdays

The black and white version. 

So a lot of blogs have these post called "Wordless Wednesdays," where the blogger posts a picture of two and then you get to just think and ponder. The thing is I am usually not so wordless.  So I am going to do a combination of pictures and thoughts - because I always have lots of thoughts.

On Saturday the Angus carloads and pens showed. Now if you can sit through this whole show props to you. I love being down in the yards on Saturday, we had beautiful weather and its nice to just sit back and evaluate the next generation on herd sires, the only problem is that the show takes a really, REALLY long time. That means I get board and end up snapping lots of random pictures.

Back to the point.

This is Justin. From the Sooline crew. They're Canadian. (And by the way they had Champion Pen.)

And this Geoff. Because you can't have a picture of Justin without Geoff. They're always together.

And these are the bulls. Justin and Geoff are two really talented guys. They know cattle, they know marketing and they know how to get one ready. And they are going to go far.

You'll notice in the coming days that I have a common theme to my pictures this year. We'll see if you can figure it out.

NWSS - Junior Show

Some days I wish I could go back. 

On Thursday, 163 head of Angus heifer were lead into the ring during the Junior Angus Show. The quality of the show is always awesome, and I would say this year was no exception. The judge commented in the Champion Drive that the animals standing out there would make a darn good starter herd for some. He also reminded all the juniors to say thanks to their parents, fitters, friends, or anyone that had helped them. I remember the countless hours my mom and dad spent at cattle shows with my sister and I, and even more hours prior to the show helping us get our heifers ready.

Heather Willis won the Junior Show. I have gotten to know her and her sister better this fall, and we always have a good time. So, it was pretty exciting to she her win. The boy that was reserve had a smile that you couldn't wipe off his face when he won. It is always exciting to be apart of all the excitement.

Below, is the Junior Show video. Now you can watch the excitement for yourself.

Hello from the National Western Stock Show

Love this show!

I just have a quick second, but wanted to give you a little update. So far Denver has been a blast. Lot of catching up with friends, and more are coming in tomorrow. The shows have gone smoothly, and there has been lots of great cattle walk through the ring. 

I finished this video today, and wanted to share it with all of you! Talk to you soon. 

The phrases cattlemen use - Sweetheart Sale

Hear is your laugh for the day.

The Sweetheart Sale catalog is out. And you may say so... I'm not in the cattle business, or they have clubbies and that's not my thing, or it's just another catalog. However, I promise this catalog is unlike any other catalogs out there. As you start flipping through the sale lots you will find footnotes like:

Lot 3 - Like the saying goes,"the best looking women don’t always make the best cooks," but I think this one breaks the mold.

Lot 6 - Power to the ninth degree. They don’t get any stouter or bigger boned than Laura. Boom, boom and the ground shakes when she walks. This is a mating from heaven with Laura and Carpe Diem. If this mating doesn’twork, "I’ll eat shit and bark at the moon."

Lot 14 - She’s small, little and hairy. No, it’s is not your pocket toy.

Lot 26 - This heifer is out of the hired man’s cow. Whatever she brings won’t be enough for what Robert is worth to our program. He is truly an unreplaceable person in our operation. This female is definately AI bred and Robert needs a different pickup; so he decided to sell this one. 

I love it. Made my day, just like this catalog does every year. And I am pretty sure one day when I have my own sale I am calling Greg Kroupa for advice.

National Western Stock Show

It's almost here! 


I love the Stock Show. There is just something about that show that makes it so special. Maybe it's being down in the yards, with the Rocky Mountains as the backdrop, or the trek up and down the hill you make ten times a day, the sound of blowers, or the pesky security guards that try to keep you out of the make-up area. It boils down to this - I love cattle shows.

I went to my first Denver when I was 18 years old. I had gotten a job with Express Ranches. I was down in the yards working on the Angus pen and carload bulls, and man we worked hard, but I loved it. Blowing cattle until they were bone-dry took on a whole new meaning. I made some awesome friends that week, people I still stay in touch with today.

The following years I went to Denver with Browarny's aka Show Champions. Browarny's were just starting to sell photos online, but most were sold through me or one of the other sales girls that were along. I am pretty sure Mindy Schnoor paid a pretty big chunk of my college tuition by buying photos of all her daughter winnings from me! Being at the backdrop was another great way to meet people and make friends. Even though it has been four years since I have worked for Browarny's I still have people come up to me and say your the Browarny's girl, right?

I mentioned that I am Angus, a huge documentary project that my boss and I have been working on, was airing on RFD-TV. Last night was a pretty exciting time! It has been pretty cool to have friends from across the country text, email, call or facebook me seeing they saw the program. Below is my favorite segment of the show, and it only increases my excitement for the Stock Show. The video makes me laugh because not that much has changed in the showring! Hope to see you in Denver.