DOUGLAS - The bull stood quietly as Gene Stillahn, manager of the Wyoming Hereford Ranch near Cheyenne, ran a brush through the creature's curly coat and along his sturdy frame.

"This is where your steaks come from," Stillahn said, passing a hand from mid-back to rump. "That's your retail cuts."

Fore of that, he explained, is mostly stew meat and hamburger.

At 13 months old, the red-and-white bull already weighs nearly 1,500 pounds. Earlier this month, judges at the National Western Stock Show in Denver deemed him the best horned winter bull born between Nov. 1 and Dec. 16 of 2005.

They don't get much better than Mo Betta.

Last week, Stillahn and Mo Betta braved wintry weather and icy roads to take part in a revival.

The inaugural Winter Ag Expo in Douglas is like state ag exhibitions tried in the past that have not survived.

Scott Keith, livestock and forage program manager for the Wyoming Business Council, is optimistic this one will be different.

First, the turnout, though relatively small, was nevertheless better than organizers had expected. Prior to the event, 15 cattle pens were deemed adequate; 30 would be outstanding.

In fact, the expo attracted 39 pens and 50 vendors.

"I actually had 47 or 48 pens committed at one time, but people just because of other commitments, backed out prior to final commitment day," Keith said.

At the same time, he estimates 250 to 350 people walked through the door during the two-day event.

In one sense, the smaller attendance was an advantage, he added. At big events like the National Western Stock Show, vendors often don't have time to really talk one-on-one with ranchers.

That sentiment was echoed by Kim Cullen with K2 Genetics of Wheatland, who brought along some of her own Red Angus.

"I like this show," she said. "I love the atmosphere."

Cullen attends lots of livestock events, but she enjoyed the slower pace of this one, and the ability just to sit and talk with producers.

"I think I'll have some sales come out of it," she said.

Stillahn also liked the show, and the opportunity it afforded him to contact potential buyers. Mo Betta might plant a seed in someone's mind - someone Stillahn did not even talk to - for a deal that could happen years from now.

"I think it's a good thing. You can't just sit on the ranch and wait for somebody to drive in," he said.

"The ranchers who came to see it, old ranchers I've known around Wyoming a long time that sometimes can be quite negative, or can be quite critical of events, said, 'This is what I've been wanting to see,'" Keith added.

Business Editor Tom Mast can be reached at tom.mast@casperstartribune.net, or call 307-266-0574.