“I didn’t get to see this side of the industry growing up, so it’s an amazing opportunity for me and others like me to get to see what their animals are actually doing when they send them off to the feedlot and then when they get processed,” saidJorja Ebert, Polo, MO, a first-time participant in the National Junior Hereford Association (NJHA) Fed Steer Shootout.
“Being part of a livestock judging team, I’ve learned a lot about animals’ phenotype and their genotype. So, I’m very interested in the genetics that help cattle not only produce in a cow-calf operation, but throughout the other sectors,” Ebert said.
Feeding out Hereford and Hereford-influenced cattle to discover how they perform beyond the pasture is the reason the American Hereford Association (AHA) established the Hereford Feedout Program. The NJHA established the Fed Steer Shootout to provide its members the same opportunity, while also participating in educational lessons related to the feedlot and beef packing sectors.
Both programs enable participants to feed a minimum number of cattle at HRC Feed Yards LLC, in Scott City, KS. Participants receive performance updates throughout the cattle feeding period and individual carcass data after the cattle are harvested, along with a collective summary of all the cattle enrolled in the program. This lets producers see how their cattle performed relative to the entire group.
“We believe in the program. We believe in the education and that more people should know about this,” said Lee Mayo, HRC Feed Yards general manager. “Everyone involved in the beef industry has a role in feeding the world. If we can teach breeders and have them take ownership and responsibility for the end product, I am really excited to see the progress of the Hereford breed over the next 50 years.”
Partners in progress
Evaluating genetic performance while gaining more knowledge about the cattle feeding and beef packing sectors continues increasing the popularity of the NJHA Fed Steer Shootout. In fact, Trey Befort, explains more juniors would like to participate in the program but are unable to because they don’t have a steer at a time of year that matches the program or an economic way to send one states away. Befort was the AHA director of commercial programs for a number of years before heading back to the family ranch in late 2025.
“We’ve been looking for ways to involve more juniors,” Befort said. “It provides so much knowledge about these other aspects of the business that many don’t have a chance to experience. For the juniors, it also highlights some career paths they may not have considered.”
Searching for a way to open more opportunity led to a unique partnership pilot project. The notion is straightforward: willing Hereford breeders send steers to the Shootout, which are entered in the names of the junior partners. The breeder partners retain ownership and financial responsibility for the steers, but the junior partners monitor the steer’s monthly progress and participates in all aspects of the Shootout.
Thanks to their willingness and generosity, Hereford breeders provided 16 steers to participants in the program, including Ebert. In total, the Fed Steer Shootout included 281 steers and 96 NJHA members from 24 states.
“I think this partner opportunity is amazing. My family just has a small herd of show cattle, and we run a small cow-calf operation,” Ebert said. “So, I haven’t really been able to see that side of the industry with the market animals. It was really amazing to partner with someone from Kansas to be able to look at this steer and see how it’s developed through this feedlot and through this program as well.”
Likewise, Joe Schohr, Gridley, CA, participated in the Shootout for the first time this year as a junior partner.
“I haven’t had the chance to send my own steers all the way from California because of our calving season and the way that works. Thanks to a very generous breeder from Kansas, Mr. Krauss, I was able to be a partner participant,” Schohr said. “So, I get to compete with one of his steers and get all of the educational benefits I’ve gotten so far, while he gets the carcass data and gets to improve his herd.”
Steers for Ebert and Schohr came from Tom Krauss and his family’s Bookcliff Herefords, Russell, KS. They had the chance to see the steers firsthand during the Fed Steer Shootout Field Day at HRC Feed Yards in 2025.
Building lifelong opportunity
Being a breeding partner for interested juniors was an easy decision for Krauss because he saw how much the NJHA Fed Steer Shootout helped his daughter, Katherine. She grew up in a family that believes firmly in retained ownership. However, like any other livestock kid in 4-H, the showring caught her eye, just like it did Krauss’ at that stage of life.
When she was 6 or 7 years old, Krauss and his wife, Andrea, started sending Katherine’s steers to feed with theirs. They told her they’d give her $20 for each one that made money, take her to town and let her buy whatever she wanted.
“She understood the concept and wanted to feed her steers,” Krauss said.
When the NJHA Fed Steer Shootout came along, she was all in.
“She wanted to know how her steers were feeding compared to the others. Before shipping them, she wanted to know if they’d been weaned long enough to stay healthy if they were commingled—all of the questions you or I would ask,” Krauss said.
The more she delved into retained ownership and gained more understanding of the whole system, Krauss said she started focusing on that end of the business with the same intensity as her show prospects.
Katherine had two overall reserve champion Shootout steers during her time as a junior member, winning other Shootout awards along the way. She now works in protein sales at Cargill’s Chicago office, where her understanding of beef from conception to harvest makes trading beef easier for her and her customers.
“I saw the transformation in my daughter from her participation,” Krauss said. “Anyone who owns cows can apply this knowledge and these skills to monetary gain … The Hereford breed is the only one that offers juniors this kind of opportunity. If one of them walks away with a deeper understanding, then we’ve done our job.”
Judging by feedback from some of this year’s first-time participants, it has been a job well done.
“At the end of the day, we’re walking meat animals into the showring. We’re not just producing show cattle, we’re producing beef,” Schohr said. “That’s something really big that I’ve taken away from this experience. Having the NJHA offer the chance to see this different facet of the industry has given me a new insight into careers in the meat packing and nutrition industry, as well as just getting to see the commercial side of the industry that I’m not necessarily exposed to on a daily basis.” — Wes Ishmael, Hereford World executive editor
