After a nearly unbroken string of dominance that spans 50 years at the Otoe County fair’s 4-H market beef show, livestock judge Corey Thomsen surveyed another selection of the powerful, commercially-attractive crossbred steers.
In their midst Lisa Niedermeyer showed a Hereford that represented the best of the British breeds.
Along with the Angus and Shorthorn, the purebreds are still the maternal base of America’s cattle herd, but since 1964 they have won the show only once.
Mary Schram of Union showed an Angus that won the reserve championship in 2003 and Matt Lamb showed a reserve champion Shorthorn a couple of years later.
Their shows ended like the rest, however, with judges selecting the genetic punch evident in the crossbred calves.
On Tuesday, Thomsen called Taylor Berner’s crossbred heifer a “remarkable creature. She’s thick from nose to the tail,” he said.
He called Josh Peterson’s champion crossbred steer “well balanced and extremely practical.”
“After the purebred show I said the crossbreds had their work cut out for them if they would match up, and I think they’ve done that,” he told a packed house at the Kimmel Events Center.
He came forward to touch the winning calf, but his hand came down on the red hair of the Hereford.
“Here’s an awfully good specimen, a calf that is dominating at every angle,” he said of Niedermeyer’s calf.
“Here’s the one. If you want to see what a good foundation should look like, this is the one,” he said.
Niedermeyer, who has been showing at the fair with her family for 11 years, said the calf was the best in the pasture this year and probably the best ever. The daughter of Robert and Debbie Niedermeyer will also take to the calf Grand Island for the state fair.
At one time our nation’s herd was all Hereford and milking shorthorn.
In the early 1970s shorthorn faded and Angus gained momentum. Chiania breeds were used in the 1980s to put on a bigger frame and Maine-Anjou calves started appearing at Otoe County showrings.
Show calves that averaged 900 pounds in the mid 1980s, today weight 1,100 pounds due to crossbreeding.
The largest calf at the fair was a 1,478 pound crossbred shown by Katie Trail in the FFA show.
“It’s rare for a purebred to win because crossbreeding works,” said Syracuse cattleman Larry Bartels. “It brings out the best qualities of the breeds,” he said.
A Maine-Anjou shown by Morgan Leefers was selected the grand champion supreme breeding female.
