I'm not talking about the National Football League, but rather the Super Bowl of cattle shows -- the National Western Stock Show. Cattlemen from across the country and the world will converge on Denver, CO, the next two weeks for what's billed as the biggest cattle show in the world.

If the National Western Stock Show (NWSS) was just another cattle show its sheer size would make it significant, but it's truly a unique event. It begins with the pen and carload shows that highlight nearly every major beef-producing breed. It also attracts a good number of the nation's leading performance breeders -- folks you won't likely find in a show ring at any other time unless it's with their kids.

NWSS is also unique in its number of cattle sales. Literally thousands of head will exchange hands over the next couple of weeks, while the "stock show" is considered to be a bellwether event for the upcoming bull sale season, setting the tone for prices.

Like the other big stock shows (Houston, Kansas City, Forth Worth, etc.), NWSS draws hundreds of thousands of people and exposes them to modern ag and cattle production. These are folks who would have absolutely no contact with cattle producers otherwise. It's one of the industry's greatest showcases.
-- Troy Marshall