Fort Worth Stock Show’s Grand Champion steer sells for $340K

The Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo’s 2024 Grand Champion steer sold at auction Saturday morning for an impressive $340,000 in front of a full crowd at Watt Arena in the Will Rogers Memorial Center. Bidders refused to take their foot off the gas until the champion Leadfoot’s asking price jumped into the $300,000 range. Higginbotham, the Fort Worth-based insurance and financial broker group, had the winning bid on the European cross breed steer belonging to 17-year-old Elli Bezner of Dalhart in Dallam County. The money from the sale will go toward Elli’s education, most likely at Texas A&M. “I’ve always kind of had a strong desire to go to Texas A&M. But I’m not completely sold,” Elli said.

While Leadfoot’s sale price is likely to cover tuition at almost any university, it’s not the most Higginbotham has paid for a champion steer. This is the second year in a row that Higginbotham claimed a Grand Champion at the auction. In 2023, the company paid a whopping $440,000 for “Snoop Dog,” shown by Sadie Wampler of Canyon. William Blanchard, managing director at Higginbotham Insurance, told the Star-Telegram the company probably wouldn’t have paid as much as it did last year if bidding reached that point again. “But maybe next year,” Blanchard said. Blanchard said the steer will be raised for protein. Elli got emotional at a press conference when reporters asked about her parting with Leadfoot. “I spend more time with him than I do my friends. I wash him every day and do all that, I’m getting teary up already,” she said. “So it’ll be hard, but you know, it’s coming at some point so you have to be ready for it.”