Denver, CO. – The 2022 Friend of the National Western Stock Show and Red Meat Industry Award was presented to Mr. Glen Klippenstein Thursday, January 13, at the annual awards dinner.
For Glen Klippenstein, the National Western Stock Show (NWSS) is about friends, commerce, and building a bridge to consumers. Glen has been a constant at NWSS for over 50 years as an exhibitor, judge, intercollegiate contest official, breed executive, and enthusiastic spectator. He estimates through his attendance at NWSS, service to the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, and leadership on the Cattlemen’s Beef Board, all three of which are located in the Denver metroplex, Glen has spent about two years of his life in the Mile High City. For him, Denver is where the business of the cattle industry gets done.
NWSS has been the launching pad for Glen’s many domestic and international sales. In one year alone, Glen sold a $100,000 bull and tallied a total of $400,000 in cattle and semen sales. In addition to his exploits at NWSS, other show ring accomplishments include 19 National Polled Hereford Grand and/or Reserve Champions and show ring wins in 39 states and Canada. An NWSS accomplishment that may never be equaled occurred from 1971 to 1984, when Glenkirk Farms won the Grand and the Reserve Champion Polled Hereford bull 12 times.
On a diversified crop and livestock farm, Glen was born on May 29, 1937, in Saskatchewan, Canada. His father valued an excellent education for his family, so in 1948, the family moved to Pennsylvania to access better schools. Once in Pennsylvania, Glen obtained U.S. citizenship with patriotism equaled by few. He also excelled academically and in school activities during his secondary education, serving as president or captain of various clubs and teams and president and valedictorian of his class. As the “farm kid” in his class, Glen started at an early age a lifelong passion for teaching and promoting agriculture and food production “to anyone who would listen,” a trait that anyone who sits beside him at an airport knows. He continues with vigor to this day.
He continued to excel while an undergraduate at Pennsylvania State University, where he won practically every honor that could be bestowed on an ag student. What he valued most was the mentorship of professor Herman Purdy. Through Purdy, who served as an adviser to then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower and his Angus herd at Gettysburg Farm, Klippenstein was able to visit Eisenhower and sit in on a multi-hour conversation between Purdy and Eisenhower, which Glen found “life-changing.”
Upon graduation, Glen had his choice of jobs, including managing Eisenhower’s farm, but his entrepreneurial spirit led him to strike out independently. After several years farming in Pennsylvania, he made the strategic decision to move the operation to Missouri, where he would run a cowherd for the next 55 years. During his 28 years at Glenkirk Farms alone, Glen marketed over 14,000 bulls and females for a value of $42 million.
The Red Meat Club has no officers and dues, just good fellowship and an informative program.
Please contact Anneliese Phippen at the National Western Stock Show (303) 299-5556.
| About the National Western Stock Show |
| Established in 1906, the National Western Stock Show is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that provides college and graduate-level scholarships in agricultural science, business, and rural medicine. It is our mission to serve producers and consumers throughout the world by being the premier annual livestock show and center for year-round events. The 16-day show in January also serves as an entertainment arena, hosting one of the world’s richest regular season professional rodeos, world-class horse shows, prestigious Coors Western Art Show, family, educational events, and Colorado’s largest western trade show. For more information, visit nationalwestern.com. |