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National Western Stock Show kicks off 106th year in Denver, Colo.

Robyn Scherer, M.Agr.
Staff Reporter
Photo courtesy of the NWSS

The National Western Stock Show is a place for people from all over the country to learn about agriculture, watch livestock shows and go to rodeos.

This year marks the 106th year of the NWSS. According to the NWSS, “National Western Stock Show is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that provides college and graduate level scholarships in agriculture and medicine for practice in rural areas. It is also our mission to serve producers and consumers throughout the world by being the premier Stock Show, Rodeo, Horse Show and center for year-round events. The 16 day show also serves as an entertainment arena, hosting one of the world’s richest regular season professional rodeos, largest horse show and Colorado’s largest tradeshow.”

Over the course of the stock show, a variety of rodeos will be held. The Colorado Rodeo Champions vs. Cinch’s World Team Rodeo will take place three times on Jan. 7, with the finals being held at 8 p.m. in the Denver Coliseum.



The Mexican Rodeo will host two performances on Jan. 8, and on Jan.9-11, the PBR will come to town. On Jan. 16, the Martin Luther King Jr. African American Heritage Rodeo of Champions will take place at 6 p.m.

From Jan. 12-22, 18 PRCA rodeos will be held, with the finals taking place on Jan. 22 at 2 p.m. in the Denver Coliseum. All of the rodeos have an addition feature, such as the Miss Rodeo Colorado coronation on Jan. 12 at 7 p.m., the US Industry Leader of the Year award at the 7:30 p.m., rodeo on Jan. 13 and the FFA Heifer Wrangler, which will be held during both rodeos at 1:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Jan. 17.



Other entertainment events will also be held throughout the show. On Jan. 8, the Dodge Ram Freestyle Reining will take place in the events center at 4 p.m. On Jan. 13, the Gambler’s Choice Open Jumper stakes will be held at 7:30 p.m. On Jan. 15 and 16, the NWSS Wild West Show will take place, and on Jan. 16 and 17 9 News Super Dogs will take the stage. On Jan. 18 and 19, an Evening with Dancing Horses will be held in the events center.

In addition to entertain events, competitions are also held. The NWSS is a premier place for producers of many livestock species to exhibit their animals to a judge, and to the general public. The events that take place over the 16 stock show range from cattle shows to youth showmanship, market classes and draft horse competitions.

The NWSS hosts one of the largest cattle shows in the country, where producers can take their animals and compete as individuals, in pens of three, or in a carload, which is a set of 10.

According to the NWSS, “More than 15,000 head of horses, cattle, sheep, swine, goats, llamas, alpacas, bison, yak, poultry and rabbits step foot on the grounds of the National Western Stock Show each year. The National Western Stock Show is noted for hosting the world’s only carload and pen cattle show, held in the historic Denver Union Stockyards.”

The shows allow producers to showcase their genetic programs, and for students to show their market animals. Over the show, 25 different breeds of cattle will compete, including Angus, Red Angus, Hereford, Gelbvieh, Shorthorn, Limousin, Simmental and Charolais cattle, just to name a few.

The National Red Angus Pen Show will start at 11 a.m. on Jan. 8, and will be held in the stockyards arena. The National Red Angus Junior/Open show will be held on Jan. 9 at 8 a.m. in the stadium arena.

The NWSS Angus Bull Show will be held on Jan. 11 at 8 a.m. At noon, the Angus Bull Sale Show will be held in the same location, and three judges will evaluate the bulls, and those judges include Paul Bennett of Red House, Va.; Bill Davis of Sidney, Mont.; and Matt Perrier of Eureka, Kan. The sale will then start at 3:30 p.m., in the beef palace auction area (BPAA).

The National Hereford Bull Show will be held Jan. 12, with the National Hereford sale being held on Jan. 13 in the BPAA at 6 p.m. The Hereford Pen/Carload Bull show is being held in the LCAA at 9:30 a.m. on the same day.

The junior market shows will be held throughout the stock show. The first market show will be the goats. The junior market goat show will be held on Jan. 11 starting at 8 a.m. The show will be held in the stadium hall, level one. The championship selection will be held at 1 p.m. Following the junior show, the Boer Goat show will be held at 2 p.m. in the same area.

The junior market lamb show will be held on Jan. 15, in the stadium hall, level one. The show will start at 9 am. The championship will be held at 6 p.m. The breeding sheep show for wool breeds and natural colored sheep will be held on Jan. 21, in the same location as the market show. The breeding sheep show for meat breeds and junior meet breeds will be held on Jan. 22, in the same location.

The junior market poultry show will be held on Jan. 16 at 9 a.m., in the events center.

The junior market swine show will take place on Jan. 18 starting at 9 a.m. This will also be held in the stadium hall, level one. The championship swine selection will take place at 7 p.m. the same day, and will be held in the stadium arena.

The last junior market show, the beef show, will be held on Jan. 19 in the stadium arena at 9 a.m. The championship beef selection will happen at 3 p.m. in the same location.

The auction of the junior market livestock champions will be held on Jan. 20, in the BPAA. The event will start at 6:30 p.m., and will be broadcasted live.

Throughout the entire show, vendors will be available for attendees to visit and purchase from. School tours will also be taking place during the show, where schoolchildren can learn about agriculture.

The stock show offers a wide variety of events for people of all ages, and is a great family activity. The NWSS is held in Denver, Colo. at the NWSS complex near I-25 and I-70. The stock show will be taking place from Jan. 7-22, 2012.


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