“So don’t let the opinions of one affect you. Stay true to yourself, and stay hardworking. And take your wins as wins and take your losses as losses, and learn from them.” Brigham Stewart
comformationally-correct market animals—that a judge can look at the little things. According to Stewart, those little things aren’t what makes a winner, but they can be what makes a difference.
And he wants to pass on his parents’ work ethic to his own kids, whether they continue in agriculture or venture out into something else. That, he says, is the path to opportunity.
The winner’s edge is always going to be subjective— which animal impressed what judge on what day.
“Mom and Dad just gave us every opportunity that we were willing to work for,” he said.
“The one you’re going to slap is the one that, when you go to bed at the end of the day, you can say hey, I found him. That’s the one I like, the one that hit me hardest.
“I’d like my kids to grow up and do the things and have the opportunities I had, with whatever they want to do. In the long run I want to try to be successful at raising cattle and marketing cattle, nationally or even internationally. But then sure, just be able to give my kids a chance at it.”
“And then you just stick to your opinion.” Stewart places a lot of importance on giving clear reasons for his judgments. This gives the exhibitors guidance, especially in a prospect show. It also helps to guide the development of animals for the market which, after all, is the whole point of showing. He says he wants exhibitors to understand why their calf placed where it did, but it’s even more important that they learn how to make it better—he wants them to come away with a better understanding of the industry.
In the meantime, he’s loving the opportunities that come his way in the show judging world. “I like travelling and looking at cattle, and it allows me to get off the farm and go do stuff that normally I wouldn’t. And go see places that normally I wouldn’t,” he said.
Stewart sees the family operation as his future, hopefully with a family of his own. He would love to expand MidContinent Farms, but as the only sibling doing the dayto-day work, he says expansion isn’t the top priority.
Left MCF Santana (Rockstar x Snowball), a Chi bull raised at Mid-Continent, on display in the yards in Denver. ©© Legacy Livestock Imaging
Right MCF Bohannon 305A is crowned Champion Charolais Bull at the 2014 American Royal with Stewart at the halter, under judge Chan Phillips. ©© ShowChampions
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Top Stock Magazine / Summer 2019
