The 2023 Livestock Tour presented, by Western Livestock Journal, will be here before we know it! Start making plans to attend as we are anticipating this tour to fill up quickly. The famous Sandhills of Nebraska is the destination for this year’s tour. This area is some of best cow country in the United States and would rival many areas of the world. It is a unique area with some of the nation’s top commercial and purebred herds located here. Along with the reputation of cattle country, the area is full of history of the westward expansion.

 

The tour will kick off in Rapid City, South Dakota on May 21, and wind up back in Rapid City on May 27. Yes, it is a Nebraska tour, but airline service into western Nebraska is limited.  We will be gathering at the Holiday Inn Rushmore Plaza in Rapid City with our usual get acquainted banquet. Our first day of touring will start with a visit to Mount Rushmore just a short hop from the hotel. Then we will head south for a few miles into Nebraska and stop at Joel Rickenbaugh’s ranch for lunch and seeing one of the state’s top commercial herds. Then we will journey to Alliance for the evening and the next two nights. Other stops in this area will include Terrell Ranch, family commercial ranch in Hay Springs that does some unique management. Also, just north of Alliance is the Meyring Ranch. For those of you that have been on our tours in the past you may remember Jerry and Nancy Meyring as past tour members.

 

This year’s tour will boast some of the most well-known ranches in the state. One of those being well-known purebred outfits, Krebs Angus Ranch located in Gordon. Eldon and Louisa Krebs will welcome our group with some of the premier Angus genetics in the country as well as their wonderful hospitality. Another reputation purebred ranch that we will visit is Hoffman Herefords in Thedford. Jason and Kaycee Hoffman along with his parents, Denny and Dixie Hoffman, relocated from California a few years back and are now making big things happen in Nebraska.

 

Another ranch that you will recognize is Haythorn Ranches located in Arthur. This is a ranch renowned for their Quarter Horses and cattle. Haythorn Ranch was the very first recipient of the AQHA Best Remuda Award. The history of this outfit is impressive, and Craig and Jody Haythorn will be gracious hosts. Another historic ranch on the agenda is the Circle Dot Ranch of Hyannis. The Monahan family represent multiple generations on this largest contiguous family-owned ranch in Nebraska. P.S.: Don’t ask how much land they have. We’ll tell you why later.

 

We will be spending two nights in North Platte and visit TD Angus and Sustainable Beef in the area. They are a forward-thinking operation with exciting new ideas and are readily making a name for themselves. Also in the area, we will stop at the Gudmundsson Research Center and the well-known Connealy Angus Ranch. Another WLJ Tour member that you will remember is Mike Kelly and we will be stopping at his ranch just a little way from North Platte. 

 

On our last day, as we make our way back to Rapid City, we will stop at Van Newkirk Herefords. This is a most impressive purebred Hereford ranch that has one of the best bull sales in the nation. Traveling north we will make our final stop at Fort Robinson Museum and History Center and head back to Rapid City.

 

We encourage you to make your reservations early as this tour will fill up quickly and we have to limit numbers due to limited room availability at the hotels. This is rural country and towns that we will be staying in are not large with big hotels. It’s going to be a good one, so join your friends and us for a great week in the Sandhills.