Exhibitors talk beef | Show gives Canadian producers chance to educate, advertise
DENVER, Colo. — Business is done at the kitchen table on many farms and ranches.
But at the National Western Stock Show in Denver, the place to hang out and talk bull is in the yards, an outdoor area beside the stock yards building and between two railroad tracks.
“This is the place to advertise in the U.S.A.,” said Roger Hardy of Soo Line Cattle Co. at Midale, Sask.
His crew set up a display of eight black Angus along with a hospitality corner to meet and greet visitors, exchange business cards and possibly do private treaty sales.
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His display attracted guests from the United States, Finland, Mexico, Canada, and Argentina. Included was a large poster pointing out Midale is only 200 kilometres north of Minot, North Dakota.
“These are people we wouldn’t normally see,” he said.
Exhibitors set up for seven days and get ready to talk beef. The mass of people moving through the alleys causes human traffic jams, especially on balmy days when the temperature is around 13 C.
For others, the yard experience exposes international guests to unique breeds, including Speckle Park cattle from Saskatchewan.
Jason Goodfellow, who represented Six Star Ranch and Notta Ranch from Neilburg, Sask., has been showing off the unique cattle for three years at Denver.
Thousands of people walk through the yards and more than once he has watched as they stop at the stall asking, “what are those damned things?”
“People automatically think it is a cross between two breeds. We want to educate people that it is a purebred,” he said.
Americans are attracted to the unusual black and white pattern and are interested in the moderate size and ability to produce well marbled beef. He said semen sales he made to New Jersey, Montana and Florida are a direct result of their display in the yards. After seeing the cattle at Denver last year, American buyers flew into Saskatchewan a few weeks later for Goodfellow’s March production sale.
About 16,000 head of livestock go through the grounds in the 16 days of the show. During weekdays, 25,000 to 30,000 people come through the gates, while on weekends attendance soars past 40,000.
