A Visit to Corn Husker Country

I had my wisdom teeth yanked out yesterday, so I had a little time to put some thoughts together about my recent trip to Ogallala, NE.

 I first met Dwayne Mays several years ago while I was attending the University of Wyoming in Laramie.  He introduced himself following a benefit auction I was working and invited me over to Ogallala Livestock to sell for a day.  I never could make it fit in my schedule before we moved back to Montana.  A couple of weeks ago, I finally had an opportunity to make that trip!

I was really looking forward to working beside Dwayne and the Schow’s.  Following the contest in Oklahoma City last summer, Dean and Leah offered to drive my new truck for a while, since we were heading the same direction  (Jodie and I hadn’t planned on bringing 2 vehicles home).  So, Dean and one of his grandsons hopped in the Chevy and headed north, while Jodie and I followed.  Our coordination with the weather was impeccable, as we all drove straight to the middle of a Kansas hail storm.  We ended up staying in Concordia, Kansas for the night to let the system blow over and had a good laugh about Dean’s driving and timing.  Jodie and I took off early the next morning in our two separate outfits, but I was honored to have a former World Champ put the first 300 miles on the pickup…and almost just as honored that he was responsible for the first 18 dents!  

                Roy Barta, the LMA Executive Officer for the region picked me up at the airport in North Platte and we had a good visit on our way over to Ogallala.  It was the 55^th Annual Stock Show Special at the market and sale day had 7500 head of feeder cattle in the pens and a ring full of buyers!  Dean and I shared some laughs during a few newspaper and TV interviews, and then the sale got underway.  The cattle out of that Sand Hills country are awfully impressive.  There  were loads upon loads of even, green calves throughout the entire day.  I saw some familiar buyers and had a chance to visit with quite a few consignors too.  Mike Nuss even made the trip down from Minitare, Nebraska to say howdy.  Among all the highlights was the chance to visit with Jerry Speck for a while.   Jerry is a former owner of Ogallala Livestock and a very well-known cattle man in this part of the country. 

                The band had a show to play in Billings on Friday night, so I was off and on the plane by 5:30 Friday morning.  A side note about the band- Kyle Shobe and the Walk Em’ Boys- we will be making a guest appearance at the 2011 WLAC Awards Banquet in Greenville, South Carolina! 

A big thank you to Dwayne, Dean and Kevin as well as Scott Van Winkle for the opportunity to be a part of a grand day.  You run a very impressive operation.                                                                                                                                                         

On another note, I’m headed to St. Onge, SD this weekend for the Greater Midwest Auctioneer Championship.  It looks like there are over 40 auctioneers competing and I am excited to see some familiar faces and meet some new ones.  If you’re in the area, you’ll be able to tune in on the radio for the finals.  I’ll have more information about it this week.  Doug Dietterle and Justin Tupper have been working hard at putting that together.

The 4^th WLAC Quarterfinal is only a month away in Bloomington, WI.  Can’t believe the Semi-Finals are only 5 months away! 

 If you are not already become a fan of Livestock Marketing Association on Facebook and confirm your attendance to the 2011 WLAC—click on the EVENTS tab!