AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:
This month, we've reported on Detroit's Auto Show, the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, and now in Denver, the single largest cattle show in the U.S.
From member station KUNC, Kirk Siegler reports from the National Western Stock Show now underway in the Mile High City.
KIRK SIEGLER, BYLINE: Fans roar overhead keeping the air cool and the odors at bay, as Jeanette Fuller spiffs-up her Black Angus with product.
JEANETTE FULLER: High-strength hairspray, basically, just trying to get the hair to accentuate the good things about her and kind of cover up the bad things about her.
SIEGLER: Think of this barn like a dressing room backstage at the Oscars, except it is the country's premier Angus show. Fuller, who raises certified Angus beef near Twin Falls, Idaho, styles the tail meticulously. I spend less time on my faux-hawk. She then buffs up its coat so it shines.
FULLER: And so, we want them to look their best.
SIEGLER: After all, pretty much everyone in audience out on the show floor is a prominent cattle breeder or buyer.
John McCurry of Burton, Kansa, herds his senior heifer calf out of the arena.
JOHN MCCURRY: This event, the history, I mean that, you know, this show has been going over a hundred years and just the nostalgia...
SIEGLER: McCurry is modest and matter-of-fact, what you would expect of a cowboy. But beneath the brim of his tan hat, a subtle smile forms as he clutches a big blue ribbon. Winning here at the Super Bowl for the cattle industry is prestigious, and great for business.
MCCURRY: This is the toughest show in the world, in terms of quality Angus cattle.
SIEGLER: If cows aren't your thing, never fear.
(SOUNDBITE OF COWS)
SIEGLER: There are also sheep and goats pleading for their dinner here in the small livestock barn. There are also hogs and chickens, horse shows and rodeos. And this is America after all, so there's plenty to buy in row after row of vendor stalls.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: A lot of leather, I can smell the leather belts from here. A little bit further on here, you can buy longhorns - your very own longhorn for $224.95.
CHASE MURRAY: We are a semen sales business from Great Falls, Montana.
SIEGLER: You heard that right, there's even bull semen for sale. It's actually a lucrative market, according to salesman Chase Murray.
MURRAY: You don't have to spend a whole bunch of money to get one of these good bulls. You can just breed, you know, buy some semen breed to get better replacement heifers.
SIEGLER: The bull semen and cattle business in general is booming right now. So, Reece Aglin didn't think twice about gassing up his truck and trailer to drive the 700 miles from his ranch in Circle, Montana.
Outside, in the sunny stockyards, he's tending to his prized purebred shorthorn.
REECE AGLIN: Probably around 1,800 pounds.
SIEGLER: He's like literally the size of my car.
(SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER)
AGLIN: Yeah. He's just a pretty outstanding show bull. He's got lots of power, lots of hip, good thick muscle - overall a pretty amazing bull.
SIEGLER: Now, unlike the smaller cows inside, this shorthorn won't be competing. Aglin is just here to show him off and network. The National Western Stock Show runs through Sunday.
For NPR News, I'm Kirk Siegler...
(SOUNDBITE OF COWS)
SIEGLER: ...in Denver.