For nearly 20 years the Stewart family has made the cross prairie trip from Russell, Man., to the Calgary Stampede.
It has been worth it for Brent and Dale and their 17-year-old daughter, Kelsey, who have stood in the winners’ circle at the Stampede Steer Classic three times.
“It’s been good to us. We’ve done very well,” Dale said.
The family raises 220 purebred black Angus and commercial cattle and also run an embryo transplant business.
They regularly show at Brandon, Edmonton’s Farmfair and Canadian Western Agribition in Regina.
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Last year they sold 39 bulls by private contract. Winning steer shows is part of their promotion business.
“It shows what we can do as managers,” she said.
The show circuit starts in November and ends with the Stampede.
Brent is an experienced beef producer, showman and judge and has been showing cattle since he was four years old. He is realistic about what happens at steer shows.
“The main thing is you have to have a steer the judge likes that day,” he said. “We were lucky to have the one the judge liked the best.”
With 10 classes and about 90 entries, judge Robert Lundago had plenty to select from when he settled on Stewart’s Charolais cross. The steer won the open class weighing 1,280 pounds. It was owned in partnership with Boutin Beef Farm of Alida, Sask.
The family also scored a third place finish with a Limousin steer Kelsey showed in a 4-H championship.
They received $9,000 for the grand champion and $1,000 for winning the open class championship. After the show, the steer became the property of the Stampede, which then sold it to Calgary restaurant owner Paul Vickers for $10,000.
The reserve grand was a Maine Anjou from Jon Fox and Jon Nostadt of Lloydminster. The reserve received $4,000 and $500 for second in the class. The Canadian Association of Petroleum Landmen bought the reserve, raffled it off and donated the proceeds to the Alberta 4-H program.
The market heifer show had 10
entries. The winners were Stephanie McQueen and Rob French of Stayner, Ont. They won $1,000. Kevin Ree of Millet, Alta., received $500 for the second place heifer.
