For 82 years, the Sandhills Cattle Association has been holding its Annual Membership Meeting. Over the years, we’ve added a trade show to the mix as well, and this year, we’re adding even more excitement to the lineup! We will be holding our Annual Convention & Trade Show on September 20 & 21 at the Cherry County Fairgrounds in Valentine, Nebraska. Since it is just around the corner, we’d like to invite you and your family to enjoy a couple of days of fun in the Sandhills of Nebraska.
This year, we’ve decided to throw a little spice into our usual events - literally. We will be holding a Cookoff Contest as a fundraiser. Teams need to sign up as soon as possible! Our judging team at 5:00 pm will judge the meat, and then the public can decide whom they think is the best for the People’s Choice award. Please join us for this great social event, show us your fantastic BBQ skills, and win a champion belt buckle!
Teams should meet at the Cherry County Fairgrounds in Valentine on Sunday, September 19, to receive their meets and have a short meeting about rules and expectations. They will start cooking their meat on Monday, September 20, and be judged at 5 pm that evening. All cooking must be done at the fairgrounds. Teams are required to bring a meat smoker, a side dish, any spices, or sauces that they may prefer and pay a small entry fee of $50.00.
We’ll also be holding our 24th Annual Golf Classic! Enjoy the afternoon on the course with ag-minded individuals during this fun-filled fundraiser to support the ongoing efforts of the Association. Funds raised during the tournament will be utilized to promote the people and cattle raised in the Sandhills and expand our educational programs. This is a three-person scramble with a shotgun start. $5 per mulligan per team per 9 holes. $10 buy-in for the $10,000 Hole-In-One contest! A complimentary supper will be provided.
This tournament is open to all interested, regardless of previous golf experience! Entry fees are priced at $125 per person, including 20 holes of golf and cart rental with a complimentary box of balls and tees and a chance to win prizes, including a $10,000 Hole in One Prize!!!
Join us at 6 pm on Monday, September 20, for a fun-filled evening sipping fine beverages from local breweries and wineries. Bolo Beer and Niobrara Valley Vineyard have agreed to showcase their best products while enjoying music from MillarTime Productions. We’ll also have some outdoor recreational games so you can finish enjoying your evening before the Convention.
Tuesday, September 21, is the Convention & Trade Show. We’ll start the day at 7:30 am with the Board of Directors meeting followed by registration at 8:30 and a President’s Breakfast prepared by the Old Mill. By 9 am, all outdoor exhibits and cattle pens should be in place for you to walk through. Our first speaker will be Dr. Derrell Peel from Oklahoma State University, thanks to our sponsors BigIron Auctions – Livestock Divison, and he will be discussing the Future Markets. We will follow him with a panel discussion about who to prepare your calves for sale success. Valentine Livestock’s Greg Arendt and Mark Miles with Miles Feeding will walk you through how to get your calves in tip-top shape, so they perform well at the sale and after the sale in the background and feedlots.
The trade show will officially open at 11:30 am, and lunch will be served at 11:45 am by Niobrara Valley Vineyards. At that time, you can browse the vendor areas, judge the pens of bred heifers, or enjoy each other’s company. The silent auction items will be available for viewing, and you may start bidding at that time.
We’ll hold our Annual Membership Meeting at 12:30 pm in the 4-H Building, followed by the election of officers and new board members. At 1:15 pm, we’ll have David Riggs and Rusty Kemp with Sustainable Beef discussing the outlook of their North Platte project. Then we will have an interactive panel discussion at 2:30 pm with Husker Meat’s Jim Pinney, showing you how to utilize a chuck roll for underutilized cuts. He’ll be serving you some delicious samples as well. Hannah Connealy Raudsepp will also be discussing how her company got off the ground selling meat directly to consumers.
We’ll then be moving over to the Open Pavilion, where our friends with Farm Credit Services of America will be providing some tasty ice cream at their annual Ice Cream Social. Then, Valentine FFA students and advisors will be discussing the new cow-calf project they implemented last year. Then we’ll laugh our way into the evening with Brent Reed, the heavyweight of clean comedy. Happy Hour will begin at 5:30, thanks to our friends at Masterhand Milling, with our grazing-style supper starting then as well, thanks to our vendors.
We’ll announce winners of our raffles, scholarships, the pen of three contest, cookoff contest, golf classic, Educational, Performance & Carcass Contest at 5:45 pm. We’ll also announce our Volunteer of the Year, Recruiter of the Year, and Producer of the Year award winners! And then the real fun begins with the Live Benefit Auction starting at 6 pm. Bid on donated items from our community. Bid on items to raise money in support of the scholarship program, which has awarded over $102,750 in scholarships to the youth of the Sandhills in the last 30 years!
We look forward to seeing everyone. Join us for informative speakers, great food, and a wonderful time!