KEARNEY — The 2024 Winter Edition of the Nebraska Cattlemen’s Classic was held in Kearney at the Buffalo County Fairgrounds starting on Saturday, Feb. 17 and will run until Sunday, Feb. 25.
The Nebraska Cattlemen’s Classic, known as “NCC – The Classic” has grown into much more than just cattle shows and sales over the past 32 years.
In February 1992, the inaugural edition of The Classic was held at the Buffalo County Fairgrounds, which has now hosted the event for over three decades.
“The Classic has a strong foundation of generations of cattlemen that have consignors or been involved with the event,” per the NCC website.
“The Classic has expanded over the years to feature a Livestock Judging Contest, Beef Cook Off, FFA Day, Pen Bull Show, Junior Show, Scholarship Programs, Commercial Trade Show, and Breed Cattle Shows and Sales,” the NCC website stated.
The Classic Manager, Ronette K. Bush-Heinrich has been with The Classic since its inception. Heinrich served as a volunteer for the first year under the inaugural Manager, Bob Volk of Arlington.
Bush-Heinrich said in her welcome, “The Winter Edition is the traditional event for cattlemen of all ages.”
“The Classic will continue to build on the foundation of 3 events that bring opportunities to cattlemen of all ages. The world is rapidly changing, The Classic leadership is working to bring new opportunities to meet cattlemen’s needs and build our next generation of cattlemen,” Bush-Heinrich stated.
Mary Clifton that runs the Livestock Office, has been with The Classic every year since the beginning and most of The Classic Team have been a part of the event for over 20 years.
Events kicked off on Saturday with the Youth Beef Livestock Judging Content, Tuesday saw the opening day for special events, Wednesday featured Breed Cattle Shows and FFA Day.
Thursday will be Sale Day, Friday will see product demos, the Fancy Heifer Show and sale; Saturday will see a showmanship display and the market show and Sunday, the closing day will feature the Breeding Heifer Show.
For FFA Day, chapters from across Nebraska attended to meet with cattlemen and to take part in presentations.
Each chapter could have one team that participated in the contest, teams consisted of two to four members.
Future events include the NCC Pop Up Event on Aug. 17, 2024, the Fall Edition running from Oct. 31 through Nov. 3, 2024 and the next Winter Edition will be Feb. 15-23, 2025.
