1912 Clay St., North Kansas City, MO 64116 PAID - American ...

American Royal BBQ & Kids Q
The American Royal BBQ Contest is the kickoff for the
American Royal Livestock Show & Rodeo. This BBQ contest is
one of the largest in the world. This year’s BBQ consisted of
approximately 700 teams, this included the Open and Invitational
competitions. Three continents were represented this year. In
addition to the adult competition, there is also a Kids Q. This is a
competition in which 50 kids in two age groups compete. The
younger kids cook hamburgers and the older kids cook steaks.
The Midwest Lowline Association stepped up to the plate donated
both the hamburger and ribeyes to be used in the Kids Q.
The organizers and judges of the Kids Q were very pleased with
the consistency and quality of the meat donated by MLA. Since
the meat was from one source, it leveled the playing field for the
kids and the judges could judge primarily on the competitor’s
ability.
The MLA was invited to have
a booth in the Expo center.
We were able to cook and
hand out samples to those
attending the event. Not only
did this allow us to promote
the beef, it also provided us
with a great opportunity to
promote the Lowline breed.
Over 60,000 people attended the three-day event; the expo hall
was overflowing. We had a great response from not only the public
attending the event, but also the other vendors in the expo
hall. What a great marketing opportunity! We were even interviewed
by Mark Farris of BBQ-TV!
Those who worked at the
booth and helped out were
Leo Oller, Dick Ritter, Karla
Kovac, Doug Darling, Rick
Lloyd and Charleen Mellott.
Great contacts with chefs,
others in the BBQ industry
and commercial cattlemen
were made.
As part of this event, MLA provided Lowline briskets to a BBQ
team in the Open division. The animals used were qualified for
the contest, to ensure tenderness and
marbling using ultrasound technology.
The team was Mad Hogs and an
Englishman. Barb Franks, Charlie
Franks and Jim were great to work with
and cooked up a brisket for us to hand
out with our other samples at the expo
center. The comments on the flavor and
tenderness of the samples were outstanding.
Many of the teams nationally and internationally are representatives
for restaurants. Not only are they competing for the $25,000
grand prize, but the name, recognition and prestige of winning or
placing in the top 10 at a world famous BBQ contest is a great
promotion for their business. Just like in the cattle industry, finding
the edge is very important. Contestants in the BBQ contest
are always looking for an edge, such as a finer texture, tenderness,
marbling etc. Some of the competitors who sampled the
Lowline beef feel this is what the Lowline breed can offer.
After the American Royal, a high-placing, well known team
wanted to try a Lowline brisket for a competition in Illinois. A
brisket from a grass fed, natural 1/2 blood Lowline steer that had
been ultra-sounded for tenderness, marbling, etc. was provided.
The response was outstanding, the team placed 8th overall and in
the brisket category received all high marks. Doc, who is the
head cook for the team stated, “I believe this is the best brisket I
have ever cooked. It was more like a filet mignon and my teammates
as well as some of my close competitors were convinced I
had cooked a filet mignon not a brisket.” He was very impressed
with the tenderness, marbling and the natural beef flavor.
We want to congratulate the team, Que’s Your Daddy, for their
success, and thank them for their feed back and for handing out
information on the Lowline breed. Thank you to the Mad Hogs
and an Englishman on their success and for using Lowline beef
and for their feedback.
Thank you to: Karla Kovac for this marketing idea, her time,
effort putting everything together and for helping to make this
event a success. To Dick Miller, a Lowline breeder in Colorado,
for providing the high marbling and tender Lowline-cross steers
that supplied the briskets for the competitions.
BBQ TV, for the opportunity
to promote the Lowline breed and
products.
Breeders, use your imaginations!
Innovative promotions such as this
help get the Lowline name out to a
larger spectrum.
Rick Lloyd
Dakota Lowlines.
Winter 2009 • The Lowline Ledger 33