V8 Brahmans Serve as Breed Ambassadors at Cattlemen’s Congress
It’s hard to imagine much good coming out of COVID unless you’re a cattleman or cattlewoman at the Cattlemen’s Congress. When the 2021 National Western, the famed livestock show with a 100-year history, couldn’t proceed as planned in Denver, Colorado because of the state’s COVID-19 restrictions, Cattlemen’s Congress was born.
Hosted in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, the mission of Cattlemen‘s Congress is “to be an elite, world class event for cattlemen and women to showcase and market their genetics, while remaining true to [its] roots of an event managed by cattlemen, for cattlemen.” And folks, the show doesn’t disappoint.
Cattlemen’s Congress isn’t just a Brahman show; the show is open to 24 different breeds. They are: American Aberdeen; Angus; Beefmaster; Black Hereford; Braford; Belted Galloway; Brahman; Brangus; Braunvieh; British White; Charolais; Chianina; Gelbvieh; Hereford; Junior Market Steers; Limousin; Longhorn; Maine-Anjou; Mini Hereford; Prospects; Red Angus; Salers; Santa Gertrudis; Shorthorn; and Simmental. And for us, that means seeing lots of old friends that we don’t get to see on the Brahman circuit.
Despite only being in its second year, the show is already billed as “the largest and most elite cattle show in the world.” The Cattlemen’s Congress drew approximately 2,500 individual exhibitors from nearly all 50 states. There were close to 10,000 head of cattle and crowds estimated at 25,000. Twenty scheduled cattle sales with approximately 1,500 lots of new cattle genetics helped contribute to the event’s $50 million impact on Oklahoma’s economy.
For V8 Ranch, Cattlemen’s Congress was the third and final show in a two-week trifecta – we also showed cattle at the 2022 ABBA Winter Classic and 2022 Heart of Texas Show. (You can see our champions here.). It was an honor to finish our shows on a high note by representing the Brahman breed in the Supreme Champion American Drive at the Cattlemen’s Congress in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
A U.S. Show with a Supreme Drive
At the Cattlemen’s Congress, the Grand Champion Female and Grand Champion Bull from one breed go on to compete against the other breeds represented at the show. V8 Ranch bred and showed the Grand Champion Brahman Female, Miss V8 277/9. And V8 bred the Grand Champion Brahman Bull, Mr. V8 910/8 “Axel”, who was purchased from the ranch as a calf by Stafford Cattle Company and Walters Livestock Enterprises.
The concept of a Supreme Drive comes from Canadian cattle shows and was introduced by Cattlemen’s Congress at its inaugural show. This January, over fifty Breed Champions from the Open Bull and Heifer Shows were considered for the Supreme Champion titles. Judges evaluated the animals using a two-step process for each Supreme drive. They chose their top five from each category, and then ranked them all. The Champion with the least number of ranking points was named the Supreme Champion in each of the three categories.
To see V8’s representing the entire breed in the champion lineup was truly an incredible moment; we loved being Brahman ambassadors at the Cattlemen’s Congress! Our great state was representing with all its might; in fact, this year all American Supreme Champions hailed from Texas. Our heartiest congratulations and a special shout out to our friends at GKB in Waxahachie, TX, for taking home the Supreme Champion American Bull title with their Ultrablack Brangus Bull. And speaking of representation, if you were there, you might have noticed a certain Texan judge, too! Our very own Jim Williams served as a judge for the Junior Show Supreme Champion.
After two weeks on the road, jam-packed with Brahman breed excitement, Jim, Luann, Luke, Cat, and Knox were happy to head home to the ranch. A special thank you for V8 Herdsman Joe Chadic and his crew for doing such a great job with the cattle.
We look forward to seeing y’all at next year’s Cattlemen’s Congress!
GRAND CHAMPION BULL
MR. V8 910/8 “AXEL”
Sire: Mr. V8 146/8 “Sloan”
Dam: +Miss V8 947/6
Shown by: Stafford Cattle Company and Walters Livestock
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