After eleven days of showing some of the best purebreds and composites in North America, over sixty champions were led in the Jim Norick Arena ring on Wednesday late afternoon to compete for the Supreme Champion honors of the fourth Cattlemen’s Congress. They were judged the best of their breeds since December 31st. Each judge and his assistant examined the field and picked their best five in the three divisions to conclude the European heritage portion of what is already considered to be one of the premiere beef cattle shows in North America. The Champions that were exhibited represented 22 states and Canada.

The judges selected the last bull named champion of his breed in the show(selected Tuesday January 9th) to this point- TJSC Coping With Destiny 9K– the Simmental Champ(seen above) that is owned by a group that includes Jones Show Cattle, Elmore Cattle Services, Diamond J Simmentals, XTB Cattle Company and Minnaert Show Cattle.

Both of the Female Supreme Champions came from the Angus show over this past weekend. The Open Supreme Female was Seldom Rest Sandy 2030– the Angus Champion owned by Jack Dameron of Towanda, Illinois.

Finally- the Junior Female Supreme Champion was also the Angus Champion of the 2024 Cattlemen’s Congress- SSF Envious Blackbird 5022– owned and shown by Samantha Van Vorhis of Bowling Green, Ohio.



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Farm Director, KC Sheperd, is talking with Oklahoma State Climatologist, Gary McManus, about weather coming into the state this week.

“We just had our fourth warmest December on record, and usually that spells trouble,” McManus said. “If we ever have a warm December, usually the hammer is going to come down in January or February.”

This blast of cold weather, McManus said, is only the beginning. Temperatures are expected to warm up on Wednesday, but after that, McManus said it will be back to those frigid temperatures.

On Friday, McManus said colder air will come in, followed by another blast on either Sunday or Monday.

“Probably on Monday, we are going to get the coldest air we have seen probably in a few years,” McManus said. “Probably since February of 2021.”

While McManus said he does not predict the upcoming weather to be as harsh and cold as February of 2021, it will still be windy and below freezing for multiple days in a row.

Breed Executives Commend Cattlemen’s Congress for Convenient Location and Execution

Farm and Ranch Broadcaster, Ron Hays, is featuring commentary from Radio Oklahoma Ag Intern, Maci Carter’s interviews with various breed executives, including American Simmental Association’s Luke Bowman and American Salers Association’s Sherry Doubet.

Bowman is in the outreach department of the American Simmental Association and works primarily with SimGenetics.

“We might be the biggest breed (at Cattlemen’s Congress),” Bowman said.

Bowman said that the Simmental breed has had quite the presence at Cattlemen’s Congress, as over 500 head of Simmental and SimGenetics cattle were shown.

The location of the show is one factor contributing to the large numbers of Simmental cattle at the show, Bowman said, as it is a convenient spot for many producers.

“We get a lot more presence from folks that can’t make it all the way to the National Western in Denver,” Bowman said.

American Angus Association recognizes southern Oklahoma Cattleman Cole Atkinson of Conley Cattle as the 2024 Angus Herdsman of the Year, which is selected through a peer-voting process.  In an elite field, where stockmen have tremendous respect for one another’s character and their craft, there’s the Herdsman of the Year award and the 2024 winner: Cole Atkinson of Conley Cattle.

The award was presented on Jan. 5 at Cattlemen’s Congress in Oklahoma City by the American Angus Association®. After his initial shock of the announcement had passed, Atkinson credited his success to those who work alongside him.

“You’re only as good as the people around you, and I’ve got the best crew around,” he said.



Atkinson from Sulphur, Oklahoma said he was surprised to be selected as Herdsman of the Year because of the caliber of other nominees. They were Miles Shout, Express Ranches; Dillon Stertzbach, Stertzbach Cattle Company; and Greg Van Zee, Udell Cattle Company.

The 2024 nominees were slated by a committee of previous award winners, based on their devotion and skills spent improving a specific herd and the Angus breed.

Atkinson began as a herdsman at Conley Cattle in May of 2019. There he is involved in all aspects of the ranch but spends most of his time managing the show barn, preparing cattle to show or sell. Conley Cattle hosts three sales a year, a fall and spring female production sale and a bull sale every February. Aside from sales, they manage around 250 Angus cows.  

2023 Landowner Conservationist of the Year goes to Bergen Ranch

The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation honors Oklahoma rancher Susan Bergen as its 2023 Landowner Conservationist of the Year. Bergen owns and manages cattle on 12,777 acres of tallgrass and mixed-grass prairie distributed over three tracts in portions of Cleveland, Johnston, Pontotoc, and McClain counties. The core of her ranching operation is an 11,500 acre property in the Arbuckle Plains that was purchased by her family in the late 1990s. Historically, this property was managed in a conventional way with continuous grazing and periodic herbicide application to control broadleaf forbs and shrubs. In 2012, Bergen embarked on a new approach to grazing and land management on her properties – one that uses restorative grazing to improve the structure and moisture retention of her ranch’s soil, enhance plant diversity, and eliminate the use of pesticides. 

Drawing on technical expertise from a variety of collaborators including the Noble Foundation, OSU Extension, and ODWC, she has developed and implemented a heavily monitored, rapid rotational grazing program. Her cattle are moved between grazing units every three to seven days and the cattle are shifted to a new unit as soon as the vegetation has been grazed to an average height of 8 to 10 inches. Each grazing unit is then rested for three to five months depending upon rainfall and plant growth. This frequent rotation provides for longer post-grazing recovery time for the prairie grasses and more closely mimics the historic grazing pattern of the mixed-grass and tallgrass regions. By maintaining taller vegetation, the grasses and forbs can sustain a greater root mass, which places more organic material in the soil to improve soil structure, retain moisture, and increase rainwater infiltration. Rather than conventional barbed wire fencing, Bergen uses a single strand of hotwire on easily moved posts to define the boundary of the grazing unit as the cattle are rotated. 

NAFB Spotlights Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Intern Maci Carter

Information about applying for Radio Oklahoma Ag Network’s 2024 summer internship can be found on our website by clicking HERE.

The National Association of Farm Broadcasters has featured an article spotlighting our very own Maci Carter! Read below:



My radio internship has changed my life. My name is Maci Carter, and I’m originally from Marion, Ohio. Last fall, I started college at Oklahoma State University, double majoring in agricultural business and communications with a minor in agricultural leadership. Like most students, I was unsure about my future career. Luckily, the Oklahoma State Agricultural Communications Club hosted an Internship Night that led me to KC Sheperd and the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network team. To say radio scared me would be an understatement. However, after talking to KC Sheperd and my coworker, Reagan Calk, that night, I decided to try working this industry for one summer.

Once I joined Radio Oklahoma Ag Network in the summer of 2023, the most significant things I gained were confidence, connections, and technical skills. Since this was my first internship and “real world” job, I felt underqualified and lacked confidence in my abilities. My experience couldn’t have been further from the opposite. This internship gave me confidence in my capabilities, taught me to rely on my skills, and helped me realize farm broadcasting is an industry in which I could thrive. It also connected me to the agricultural community beyond what I imagined. I’m so grateful my bosses and coworkers have fully immersed me in what it means to be a part of this industry and allowed me to attend all types of events with them over the summer. My technical skills also grew. Practicing writing articles, editing audio, and using microphones and software of all kinds gave me valuable knowledge that will set me ahead in my future classes and career opportunities.