Each winter, nearly 700,000 people visit the National Western Stock Show. It is a production of about 30 rodeos, 11 horse shows, and countless other attractions. For so many visitors from the increasingly urbanized West, the Stock Show offers a rare window into Western tradition and the incredible importance that agriculture and ranching industries have made to revolutionize our daily lives.
For many other visitors, the National Western Stock Show is a pilgrimage, a gathering of the extended family that sustains and defines the West. Since the first Stock Show in 1906, it has been a place where generations of farmers and ranchers – people whose hard work feeds the rest of us – spend time reuniting with old friends, learning about new approaches and techniques in agriculture and ranching, and doing some business, year after year
Junior Livestock Winner
The Auction of Junior Livestock Champions at the 2024 National Western Stock Show on Friday pulled in $548,000 across the top eight champion animals, shy of the record sale amount of 585,000 from 2023.
The Grand Champion Steer, shown by 13 year old Croix Reimann of South Dakota, sold for $185,000 to Ames Construction Company. The record holder was a steer sold in2023 for 200,000.
The auction is the final marketplace for ribbon-winning steers, lambs, hogs and goats that were raised by junior exhibitors, 4-H and FFA youth ranging in age from 9 to 18. The goal of the auction of Grand Champion and Reserve Grand Champion animals is to encourage today’s youth to seek a future in agriculture and to further their education.
This year, the Auction of Junior Livestock Champions’ 98 animals totaled 1,374,000, marking the 2024 livestock show as the 2nd highest sale in Stock Show history.
Rodeo Winners
The event came to a close on Sunday and a highlight of the day’s events was definitely the championship finals of the rodeo.Brody Cress tied his own saddle bronc riding record at the National Western Stock Show Rodeo during Sunday’s Championship Finals. His 91 point ride which earned him the title and 5,472. Combined with his previous earnings in the Denver Coliseum, his total take was 11,148.
It took 19 performances to determine who the players would be for the titles. Contestants competed in brackets, advanced to Semi-Finals and then the Final round. With 12 of rodeo’s best in each event, it was a great day for rodeo fans in the Denver Coliseum as well as those watching the competition on The Cowboy Channel.
Garrett Shadbolt, a bareback rider from Merriman, Nebraska, has had success nearly every time he has entered this rodeo. He has risen to the top twice winning titles in 2023 and 2024. This year, he rode Cervi Brothers Rodeo’s Dream Machine for 86.5 to win the championship. His earnings on Sunday along with earnings from preliminary competition saw him adding 12,183 to his checking account.
The bulls have had the edge over bull riders throughout the competition and that also held true on Sunday. T Parker from Winnie, Texas, was the only man to make it to eight seconds so he got all the money. He rode Cervi Championship Rodeo’s Bull Dirty Mike for 83 points to earn 16,003.
There was a tie in the barrel racing with four-time world champion Hailey Kinsel, from Cotulla, Texas, and Halyn Lide from China Spring, Texas both stopping the clock in 14.73 seconds. Kinsel won more money in preliminary rounds so collected a total of 11,086. Lide’s total was just under 5,000.
Other winners were Tyler Pearson from Atoka, Oklahoma in steer wrestling, 3.3 seconds; Dustin Egusquiza, Marianna, Florida, and Levi Lord, Sturgis, South Dakota, team roping, 4.0 seconds and Tanner Green, Cotulla, Texas, tie-down roping, 7.3 seconds.
This year’s National Western was among the top 10 highest attended in the event’s 118-year history.
