Youth from across the country gathered at the Aksarben Stock Show at Fonner Park in Grand Island. The annual agricultural event, which started Thursday but began major events on Friday, featured vendors, food trucks, and a bustling livestock marketplace. Courtney Glock, marketing director for the Aksarben Stock Show, noted that approximately 1,400 exhibitors from 14 states participated this year. “So as you’re driving through the parking lot, you’re going to see a lot of different license plates, most of them from the Midwest. But our barns are full to the brim and even overflow in some species,” she said.
The event is open to children aged 9 to 19 from states including Iowa, Missouri, Colorado, Montana and Wisconsin. Aksarben is renowned as one of the largest youth livestock shows in the U.S., with Friday’s events featuring cattle, sheep, goats and swine competitions.
Courtney Wolfe, who traveled from Missouri with her son Wyatt, his best friend Keaghan Stroud, and other family members, shared the children’s enthusiasm for showmanship. “It’s something they’ve been working hard all summer for. So, you know, I asked them, I said, ‘hey, you guys want to do football or you want to do, go to a cattle show?’ They’ve all said, ‘let’s go to a cattle show,”‘ said Wolfe. She said they came despite being starters on their football team…