(This transcript has been lightly edited.) 

Host Stacy Nick: Hi, Sam, Thanks for being here. 

Sam Cunningham: Hi, thanks for having me. 

For the average person, the National Western Stock Show is a chance to check out a rodeo, wear some cowboy boots, and maybe it’s the only time they get to see cattle up close. But this event is also about big business. Can you give listeners who might not be as familiar with the stock show, a short explainer of the “stock” part of the stock show? 

Happy to have this conversation. I grew up on the National Western Stock Show grounds, displaying and offering my family’s cattle. So, I’m very fortunate to be in a role here at CSU where I get to do cool things like interact with the public, share the agriculture story, and then also share genetics that have been part of CSU’s story for hundreds of years. 

The “stock” part of stock show plays into the fact that we get to be on the grounds of the Denver national stockyards, where hundreds of thousands of cattle were traded off trains and in wooden plank pens years and years before. While those wooden plank pens are gone, we are fortunate to have beautiful modern facilities and a place to share stories of these traditions and this heritage. The livestock that you’ll see when you visit the stock show could be from young 4-H and FFA members on the Hill exhibiting their junior market or junior breeding stock. You’ll see anything from goats to fat steers, poultry, pretty much anything in between. 

You’ll also see breeders from across the country — and we do have exhibitors that come and join us from Canada — exhibiting cattle as well. They’re offering genetics that represent their ranch, and it could be their family’s story. Perhaps some of those are first–generation farmers and ranchers that are writing their story. It’s neat to see folks from all over come together from different places with different stories to help continue the tradition of National Western. 

Now, in the yards where you’ll find CSU exhibiting cattle, that is a tribute and a throwback, if you will, to those early days of the stockyards. This is the only place in the country where we get to have a show like this. Breeders, again, will come from across North America to exhibit. But we also have lots of international folks that visit us during the 16 days in January that National Western is sharing its grounds with the public. There we will show groups of cattle as three, five, or 10 head and again as exhibitors. This is our business and part of our livelihood. But this is also a homecoming for many of us. I will get to see folks that I only maybe see once a year, and so that’s fun from a friendship and relationship standpoint. But it’s also important to our business as agriculture and beef producers because both of those businesses are very heavy on relationships and tradition. 

Now as you mentioned, genetics plays a huge role in the stock show. How has that changed over the years, and what’s next for the future of genetics in the livestock industry? 

Stacy, with a loaded question! (laughs) As we look at animals, we’re seeing the genes that they’re carrying, that they’ve inherited from their parents and their ancestors. We can see nods to different trends over time. For those listening that are familiar with the livestock industry, specifically the beef industry, I’ll speak from that perspective because that’s where I’m representing while I’m at the stock show. 

We started in the ’50s and ’60s with the really small, the really short, the really wide cattle. And then we saw a move in the ’70s and ’80s to taller, longer, leggier cattle with a different growth pattern. Then through genetics and breeding, through selecting different breeds in different families within those breeds, we’ve changed the type of cattle that we’re offering a couple of times since then, and we’ll probably continue to do so. 

We have some more modern tools, just like with any technology. I mean, think about the first cell phone and then the smartphones that we carry in our pockets. The livestock industry is no different. The genetic tools that we have available — I mean, we’ve transitioned from pen to paper to storing records on computers, and then we have genetic predictions like expected progeny differences. Now, those have been around for a long time, and they developed a strong presence in the dairy industry and then evolved into the beef industry. We’ve had those for a long time in some of the traits and columns represented there have been there from the beginning of these calculations. 

Our breed associations are continually developing new columns of predictions and traits to help producers produce cattle more sustainably, more responsibly, more efficiently, all the time with the consumer in mind. Because at the end of the day, we’re not just marketing genetics; we are working to feed an ever-growing population a safe, wholesome and sustainable product. We can use other tools like genomics and look into that animal’s DNA to see specifically what they have, and then combine that with those numerical predictions. Oftentimes, we see technology moving faster, so we’re almost outrunning our own horse sometimes. 

That’s where CSU and some of our other land grant institutions come in; we can help serve as a bridge or a place for folks that are interested in livestock breeding to come and learn more about it as it’s happening because not only are our scientists learning more and sharing more about it, but oftentimes we are working behind the curtain to assist companies and associations in developing some of this new information and these new technologies. 

Now you’re also the advisor for CSU’s Seedstock Merchandising Team as I mentioned earlier. How did the seedstock team get started? 

The seedstock team started nearly 50 years ago under the direction of Bob Taylor, a faculty member in our animal sciences department, who had an interest in hands-on teaching, learning by doing and sharing, mainly, beef cattle production with his students. I believe it was in 1976 and ’77, he had the first seedstock merchandising class. They planned a small sale, and they offered Hereford and Angus genetics that were part of our on-campus herd. They offered those in the first sale. We’re continuing that tradition again this coming winter. 

I’m the fourth faculty member fortunate enough to serve as the advisor to the seedstock merchandising team. About 20 years ago is when we started exhibiting cattle at the National Western Stock Show from the animal sciences department, and that strong relationship has continued. 

The opportunity for our students is about networking and creating relationships, but then it’s also helping them develop some leadership skills and finding some grit and some strength, along with time management and organization. Because genetics and livestock production are ever evolving and it takes a lot of records and record keeping, they’re very proficient at organizing data, digging through data, asking good questions, and then investigating that data to find answers to help identify the animals that are going to be our highest quality to offer from our CSU herd. 

I got a chance to see the team prepping the cattle last year at the stock show, and I was amazed at the hours of work that went into getting them “show ready” for what essentially is about 10 minutes in the actual ring. The team won two division champion pens along with selling Pick of the Pen. What do awards like that mean for the team? 

It’s not just a victory that’s about the plaques and ribbons, although we do enjoy the plaques, ribbons, the articles, and the pictures that come with them. If you look at some of the students that I’ve had on recent teams, some of them came to CSU Animal Sciences with no experience. They came here knowing that they liked animals and wound up falling in love with livestock, specifically beef cattle, finding their way to the seedstock team and then creating their own niche network of peers on that team. 

We work really hard from the end of September through the beginning of March, getting our cattle ready for Denver, getting sale cattle ready for a February sale, and those types of things. We spend a lot of long hours together because we must fit in cattle and ranch work outside of classes. Oftentimes, students also have jobs, whether on campus or off campus, so we have to squeeze cattle work in around that as well. 

These students are learning that there’s value to these prizes in that they’re building friendships and relationships that are going to last forever. They’re expanding their network, not just here on campus with faculty and graduate students and other students, but also with all the folks that we are fortunate to engage with when we’re at the stock show, whether that is the public, other breeders, industry professionals. 

After that, we go to the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association annual convention and trade show. They will meet thousands of folks from all over all sectors of the industry. They are able to visit about jobs and internships and different types of careers, hear stories from folks in career paths that they might be interested in. There’s a lot of opportunity, and there’s a lot more to that trophy that they maybe don’t realize until well after that trophy is sitting in a cabinet in the Animal Sciences Building collecting dust. 

Also, for CSU’s breeding program these wins represent progress that then is kind of an assurance, if you will, that we’re making some progressive genetic decisions so that we’re creating animals that are useful and attractive to our industry, that are complementing other breeders’ programs. And then we can also use that as a mechanism to advertise for our own sale that happens not long after National Western. We have a pretty busy winter. 

Well, we wish you good luck. 

Thank you. 

And thanks so much for talking with me today. 

No problem. Thank you. 

That was CSU Animal Sciences Assistant Professor and CSU Seedstock Merchandizing Team advisor Sam Cunningham. The 2024 National Western Stock Show runs through January 21st. I’m your host, Stacy Nick, and you’re listening to CSU’s The Audit.