KANSAS CITY, Mo. —  Hereford enthusiasts and exhibitors gathered in cattle country for the fifth annual Cattlemen’s Congress in Oklahoma City, Okla., Jan. 7-10. Shane Werk, Herman, Minn., and Nate Frederickson, Spearfish, S.D., evaluated the National Hereford Show in the new OG+E Coliseum. The pair sorted 146 females and 57 bulls. Throughout the four-day national show, 408 head of Hereford cattle were exhibited.

Bull show champions
Stellpflug All That ET claimed supreme champion overall bull honors and the grand champion horned bull title. Exhibited by Hoffman Ranch, Thedford, Neb.; Lindskov’s LT Ranch, Isabel, S.D.; and Buck Cattle Co., Madill, Okla., the champion senior bull born Jan. 30, 2023, is a son of JDH AH Benton 8G ET. This is the second consecutive year a Hereford bull has been named supreme champion at Cattlemen’s Congress. GKB Cattle, Desdemona, Texas, and Burns Farms, Pikeville, Tenn., with BF GKB 5502 McCrae 200M ET, an Oct. 28, 2024, son of KLD RW Marksman D87 ET, won reserve grand champion horned bull and champion senior bull calf.

“I think if we can use bulls like these, we’re going to make tremendous progress in a lot of ways,” Werk said prior to selecting the polled bull champions. “Not only phenotype, which is the primary selection criteria out here — but also from a genetic standpoint, these cattle do a lot, and from a function standpoint as well.”

Jared and Kati Richardson, Henrietta, Texas; and Saige and Sloan Beerwinkle, Earth, Texas, won the grand champion polled bull bronze with SMB KTRCC Pendleton 420M. Their winning bull is a June 13, 2024, son of AAG Kaboom 502D. He first won the intermediate yearling bull division. KJ 8037 Arrowhead 755N ET, shown by Upstream Ranch, Taylor, Neb.; GKB Cattle; Kevin Jensen, Courtland, Kan.; and Bar A Cattle Co., Nocona, Texas, took home reserve grand champion polled bull honors. This bull is a Jan. 4, 2025, son of KJ 753D Tomahawk 605K ET, that first claimed champion junior bull calf.

Female show champions
In the polled female show, Landry Allan, Nocona, Texas, showed the grand champion and champion senior heifer calf. Allan’s female, BACC 241 Haley 472, is a Nov. 17, 2024, daughter of UPS Sensation 2296 ET. The duo also claimed grand champion in the junior show. Annually, the grand champion polled female exhibitor at Cattlemen’s Congress has their name engraved on a trophy in memory of Jarold Callahan. Nolan Lee, Wellington, Ill., exhibited the reserve grand champion polled female, HAWK Audrey 7M ET, a Feb. 11, 2024, daughter of T/R BPF AmericanClassic 561CET. His female was first named champion junior yearling.

Ty Pezanoski, Peru, Ill., topped the horned female show with HAWK Priya 11M ET. His champion junior yearling is a Feb. 24, 2024, female by H The Profit 8426 ET. Pezanoski also claimed grand and supreme champion overall in the junior show with this female. Each year, the Cattlemen’s Congress grand champion horned female exhibitor’s name is etched on a trophy in honor of Gary and Kathy Buchholz, Desdemona, Texas. BK Many Sweets 457M, exhibited by Ella Weldon, Piedmont, Okla., was named the reserve grand champion horned female and champion spring yearling female. BK Many Sweets 457M is a March 2, 2024, female sired by BK Red River H18 ET.

“We’ve made such tremendous improvement in the last 20, 30 years that it’s just amazing what we’ve done with this breed,” Werk said before the selection of the horned female champions. “As you look at these cattle that we’ve tried to select, we believe we can keep moving forward. We have to.”

Other show awards
At the conclusion of the show, Ella Weldon won polled premier exhibitor for the second consecutive year. GKB Cattle claimed horned premier exhibitor. T/R Cattle Co., Glencoe, Okla., took home the polled and horned premier breeder banners.

For complete full results from the 2026 Cattlemen’s Congress, visit Hereford.org.

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The American Hereford Association, with headquarters in Kansas City, Mo., is one of the largest U.S. beef breed associations. The not-for-profit organization along with its subsidiaries — Certified Hereford Beef (CHB) LLC, Hereford Publications Inc. (HPI) and American Beef Records Association (ABRA) — provides programs and services for its members and their customers, while promoting the Hereford breed and supporting education, youth and research. For press releases and photos, visit Hereford.org/media.

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