TORRINGTON – With school coming to an end soon, numerous students are going to be left with some extra free time, and may be looking for something to keep themselves occupied. Or for that matter, further their knowledge and learn something new. If an intelligent prospect knows one thing, it’s we can never stop learning or advancing our skills. Downtime is a great opportunity to do just that. 

With the area having such a successful string of recent events as far as 4-H and Future Farmers of America (FFA) related activities, Christine Miller, along with son P.D., have come up with the idea of presenting an extremely beneficial stock show clinic. This will be in partnership with Sullivan Supply, based out of Dunlop, Iowa, and is called Stock Show University (SSU).

The event will be held at the Torrington County Fair Grounds on Saturday, May 13, through Sunday, May 14. The event will begin at 8 a.m. and will run through 6 p.m. Saturday, then will reconvene at 8 a.m. Sunday morning, lasting until 2 p.m.

The idea behind the SSU program is to offer free training and education tools for various students, and adults alike, who are interested in improving their knowledge of livestock showmanship.

“It’s an education is what it is,” said Miller. “It will be a two-day, in-depth program to teach kids the ins and outs of showing livestock.”

The Millers have had the idea for quite a while now. It’s taken three years for the concept of presenting an SSU sponsored event in Torrington to come to fruition. The Millers are the present owners of M Lazy Heart Ranch, located at 4756 WY-154, and opened their feed store back in 2019. They would then become partners in business with Sullivan Supply, who have over the years begun to offer the SSU clinics.

SSU, according to Sullivan Supply acting manager Tess Mittag, is an organization that works in providing educational programs that supply, particularly our youth, in developing new skills to compete with their livestock show projects. SSU is free to all ages and abilities, ranging from beginner all the way to advanced, and hosts a large degree of shows and expos all across the United States.

“They offer stock showing supplies all across the country,” continued Miller. “These products are what they will use for the demonstration, and they do this as a way to give back to the industry. Since 2020, have been wanting to sponsor one of their grad programs, which is what this is. We provide the ace setup for them so that when we work together, we are jointly producing the stock show program.”

The clinic already has over 300 attendees registered and planning on coming. According to the Millers, there will be participants coming from Iowa, Utah, Colorado, Nebraska and Montana, on top of Wyoming. Not only are there a large number of eager attendees, but there will be top leading livestock professors from all around the country.

 P.D. Miller will be acting as Lead Professor himself for cattle, and has recently returned back to Wyoming from a livestock clinic held in Oregon. He has been working with cattle, as well as showmanship with his family his entire life. He has advocated for a strong, inclusive approach to the upcoming clinic.

“Adults can also participate. It’s about the showmanship of livestock,” P.D. said. “It is also an option to attend even without an animal. There’s nine already signed up that don’t have animals. FFA and 4-H programs should come out and get a feel for it. It’s much more hands on than other clinics, and there will be a lot of other demonstrations out there. This is where a professor will work with you hands-on and one-on-one, to help with your skills and showmanship.”

Participants will be spending two days learning more enlightening daily care techniques with animals. Clipping, fitting, showing and feeding of the four major livestock species will be on the main agenda. Cattle, hogs, goats and sheep are the main animals to be focused on. Meals will also be provided to participants.

“We also have Eastern Wyoming College (EWC) sponsoring meals on Saturday at the new tech facility,” Miller said. “EWC has been eager to be a part of the program in some way.”

Again, numerous livestock professors, who have expert-level knowledge and experience with cattle, sheep, goats, and hogs, will be arriving from various states throughout the U.S. to join the Millers in presenting the SSU clinic. According to the Millers, they are considered the very best in the industry nationwide. 

Among the professors that will be in attendance will be Reed and Rich Nichols from Iowa. According to P.D., the two are able to raise and sell 30 to 40 steers a year. Other participating livestock professors in the clinic will be Rachel and Calen Streetmatter from Indiana and Jamie Smith from Texas.

P.D. advocated firmly for one particular professor who will be present at Goshen County fairgrounds. 

“One of the best world-renowned goat producers will be professor, Krisha Geffert. She will be acting as the Hog Lead Professor, but will talk to the whole group about animal nutrition.”

Miller further advocated the extreme benefits a free clinic such as this will have on the community, as well as our students looking to continue developing their skills. She feels as many people as possible should take advantage of the opportunity. 

“This will be the first clinic that has been done here, and it’s actually hard to do because it’s being offered free of charge. The professors will do their showmanship part, everybody can and should sign up ahead of time and it’s free for attendees. This is purely educational.”

For more information on the upcoming clinic, or on how to register to participate, contact Tess Mittag at tessa@sullivansupply.com, or call M Lazy Heart Feeds at 307-532-4771.