Sandhills Cattle Association

The Scholarship Committee has finalized the 2012 application and it is now available by contacting the Association office or by clicking here for a fillable .pdf. The same application form will be used for the SCA’s scholarships and the Howard Wright Memorial Scholarship. There are five scholarships offered by the Sandhills Cattle Association, each in the amount of $1,000, and the Howard Wright Memorial Scholarship is $500. Completed applications must be postmarked or dropped off in the SCA office on or before February 1, 2012.

     This year marks the 20th year the Sandhills Cattle Association has presented scholarships to children of Association members. During those 20 years, 365 applications were recieved, averaging 18 per year. To date, 73 students have received scholarships, nine of whom have earned an SCA scholarship twice. The number and amounts of the scholarships have changed throughout the life of the program. For the first four years two scholarships were offered annually in the amounts of $500 and $1000. For 7 years after that three $500 scholarships were awarded and in 2003 the number was increased to four. In 2004 the number of scholarships presented was upped to five per year and since 2007, there has been five $1000 scholarships awarded each year. The annual benefit auction and memorial money have been instrumental in establishing and sustaining the SCA scholarship fund. We are grateful to those who have contributed funds and donated, bid on or purchased items in the auction over the years. Since 1992, a total of $51,250 has been paid out in Sandhills Cattle Association scholarships.
     Once again this year $1,000 Sandhills Cattle Association scholarships were awarded to five outstanding young people to help them continue their educations. There were 18 qualified applicants making the decision difficult. Sandhills Cattle Association Scholarships were awarded to: (from left) Sydney Gehl, daughter of Greg & Susan Gehl, Ericson; Amanda Keys, daughter of Kerry & Anita Keys, Elsmere; Brittney Andersen, daughter of Clint & Jean Andersen, Lakeside; Kip Littau, son of LeRoy & Dawn Littau, Carter, SD; Justin Nollette, son of Tim & Terri Nollette, Nenzel.
     Braden Storer (second from left), son of Eric & Tanya Storer, Whitman, was presented the Howard Wright Memorial Scholarship. The $500 scholarship is administered by the SCA and awarded by the Wright family in memory of Mullen area rancher, Howard Wright.
     Committee members were: Aleta Ambler, Anselmo; Dennis Bammerlin, Millboro, SD; Eric Connot, Clearfield, SD; Mart Hollenbeck, Bassett; Cherryl Lovejoy, Valentine; and Sherrill Shadbolt, Brownlee.

     The EP&C Committee went to Rolling Stone Feed Yard on December 1 to take the official beginning individual weight of the calves entered in the 30th Annual EP&C Contest, assign values and docility scores. The steers averaged 701 lbs. and the heifers had an average weight of 636 lbs. Contestants should have received this information in the mail. 
     The contest began November 8 when 157 calves entered the feedlot in Ainsworth, Ne. We would like to thank all the SCA members who entered this 30th Anniversary contest. The contest is an educational opportunity as well as a fundraiser for the Sandhills Cattle Association. Please call the office for more information or with any questions.

A complete list of the contest rules are available by clicking here.

  The winners of the 29th Annual Educational, Performance and Carcass Contest were announced at a banquet on July 27 in Valentine. There were 31 contestants who entered cattle. Twenty-eight heifers and 104 steers completed the contest. The cattle are ranked in four categories: Gain, which is determined by Average Daily Carcass Gain; Carcass, which uses an Adjusted Yield Grade; Profitability and finally Overall, which is a combination of the rankings in the three previous categories. The cattle were fed at Cottonwood Feeders, Stuart, Ne.

     A good crowd was on hand for the 72nd Annual Sandhills Cattle Association Convention held Thursday, May 26 at the Cherry County Fairgrounds in Valentine, Nebraska. It was a beautiful, sunny day for this year's annual meeting. Thanks to all of those members from the region who participated.
     Presentations were packed with information on diverse topics. Arch Ferguson, Wood Lake area rancher, gave a horse training demonstration. A panel discussion on Nebraska brand inspection was held with: Steve Stanec, Nebraska Brand Committee Executive Director; Michael Kelsey, Nebraska Cattlemen Executive Vice President and Destry Brown, ICON Executive Director. In the afternoon, Jon Beever, University of Illinois animal science professor spoke about his research into genetic deformities in beef cattle and Trent Loos wound up the presentations with his talk “Stop Defending Agriculture.” 
     Thanks go to the Convention Committee for their hard work to make this year’s event happen: Shane Keller, Valentine, Chairman; Mark Ormesher, Valentine, Co-Chairman; Shane Kime, Nenzel; Jay Stewart, Newport; Adam Fischer, Valentine; Jeff Vackiner, Cody; Randy Robinson, North Platte; Tim Nollette, Nenzel; Eric Connot, Clearfield, S.D.; and Brad Emerson, Ellsworth.

The Annual SCA Golf Tournament was held Wednesday, May 25 (the day before the SCA Convention) at the Valentine Golf Club LLC. Fifty-five golfers teed off and a good time was had by all participants.  

                                         FIRST FLIGHT:
   1st Place: Larry Buell, Homer Buell, Ben Fischer, Butch Fischer
   2nd Place: Adam Fischer, Mark Mundorf, Robert Joseph, Rick Brittan
   3rd Place: Luke Fischer, Mike Polk, Tim Evans, Wade Tysdal
   4th Place: Brady Clark, Mark Foster, Dale Williams, Duke Waln

 SECOND FLIGHT:
 1st Place: Jim Baxter, Candy Baxter, Steve Miller, Travis Van Anne
 2nd Place: Rob Parkhurst, Zane Parkhurst, Bernie Eklund, Ron Gordan
 3rd Place: Ken Stephens, Dana Colvin, Carlie Spiker, Jeremy VanBoening
 4th Place: Mike Baxter, Linn Baxter, Jerry Woodruff, Ben Siegfried

Thank you to Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica for serving a smoked beef brisket supper to golfers after the tournament and to Intervet/Schering Plough for sponsoring the pin prizes. Thanks also, to these businesses for sponsoring a hole: Agri Affiliates Inc., Bassett Livestock Auction, Bunkhouse Saloon & Restaurant, D&D Sales, Heart City Plumbing & Heating, Henderson's IGA, Land Brokers Inc., Tehrani Motors and Valentine Livestock Auction Co. The Annual Golf Tournament is held as a fundraiser for the Association.