Fort Worth Stock Show
Elli Bezner and Leadfoot in the show ring.
The Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo’s annual Junior Sale of Champions auction featured two developing stock dynasties.
Elli Bezner’s grand champion steer Leadfoot was sold for $340,000 to Fort Worth-based Higginbotham about 10 minutes after 9 a.m. at Watt Arena on the grounds of the Will Rogers Memorial Center. That’s roughly $256 and change per pound for the 1,329-pound European Cross.
Bezner, a 17-year-old from Dalhart, is a repeat winner in the family. Her father Stephen showed the grand champion in 1991. A cousin did the same in 2018.
Meanwhile, Higginbotham made the winning bid for a second consecutive year. In total, the insurance and financial services group has spent $780,000 on grand champion steers in 2023 and 2024 after placing a record-setting bid on Snoop Dog in last year’s sale.
The $340,000 this year marked the show's second-highest bid.
“I'm still kind of in shock," said Bezner. "This is crazy that it actually happened. You dream of it and you want to do it, but getting to reality is a hard thing to do. I honestly didn't know what to expect, but the generosity is amazing, and I am so grateful.”
About 300 youngsters from across Texas sold animals on Saturday in auctions that were expected to yield in the neighborhood of $7 million.
Ed Bass made the winning bid of $230,000 on the reserve champion, an American Cross shown by Mattison Koepp of La Vernia.
“We're excited to be here. These kids are amazing,” said William Blanchard, managing director at Higginbotham. “The hard work that they put in is undeniable. It's pretty amazing that we have this opportunity. We're proud of the Fort Worth Stock Show and all these kids who come up here and work like this.”
Bezner, who had to fight back tears at the thought of saying goodbye to Leadfoot, said she planned to use the money to pay for college, possibly at Texas A&M. She also said she would probably use some of it to invest in more stock.
She said she believed her future was in working with special needs children as a therapist. The ag industry is definite possibility, too. Many of the youngsters showing at the Stock Show will be in agriculture until their last day.
"I'm not sure exactly where I'll end up," Bezner said.
Leadfoot’s future is the food chain. He’ll become part of the meat protein supply that feeds the world through an industry that puts the most nutritious and safest products on dinner plates.
The Bezner family business is beef. Stephen Bezner and his brother own Bezner Beef. Elli Bezner’s grandfather and an uncle manage the other side of the business, Bezner Cattle and Grain, in Dallum County, located in the very northwestern part of the Panhandle.
“There's a world of emotion that goes through you when you have the opportunity to experience something so generous,” said Stephen Bezner. “I think about the time we spend together [with Elli and family], the time we spend out there … countless hours. Many of you probably have pets or animals at home that you love and care for. We're stewards of these animals and we love and care for these animals.
“We have more animals at home. My family owns a feed yard where we grow livestock, where we grow cattle. And, so, I feed cattle every day and I enjoy it. I do what I love.”