2026 Media Guide

STOCK CONTRACTORS

Universal Rodeos Stock contractor: Mark Johnson

LOCATION: Jonesboro, Ark. BACKGROUND: Johnson started producing amateur rodeos in 1994 and became a PRCA stock contractor in 2005. He operates a 300-acre ranch in Jackson, Mo., with a herd of 80 horses and 55 bulls. Universal sent three bucking bulls to the 2020 Wrangler NFR. The company’s bucking bull Pookie Holler was selected as Wrangler NFR Top Stock in 2020. LOCATION: High River and De Winton, Alberta. BUCKING STOCK OF THE YEAR: Saddle bronc Try Me, 1984. OTHER NOTABLE LIVESTOCK : Awesome, top bareback horse, Wrangler NFR, 2005, 2007. BACKGROUND: Wayne Vold is a son of Harry Vold, one of the PRCA’s most highly regarded stock contractors and a member of its ProRodeo Hall of Fame. Wayne Vold got into the business in 1965 through a partnership with his father, and the liaison continues today. Father and son often work together to supply stock for a rodeo, even though Wayne locates his string in Alberta and Harry’s home base is Avondale, Colo. They also join forces on a breeding program that produces bucking stock for both firms; Wayne Vold raises about 75 percent of his livestock. He has sung the Canadian national anthem several times at the Wrangler NFR. In 2020, the company sent two bareback horses and a bucking bulls to the Finals. Western Rodeos Stock contractors: Andrew Blessinger, Linda Russell and Ted Groene LOCATION: Caldwell, Idaho. BUCKING STOCK OF THE YEAR: Bulls Skoal’s Pacific Bell, 1988-90 (a record three times); Copenhagen Rocky, 1992; Grasshopper, 1993. BACKGROUND: Dan H. Russell bought Western Rodeos in 1963 to start a hobby, a place for him to buck vast numbers of bulls raised on his ranches in Nevada, Wyoming and California. Son Dan M. Russell became sole owner when he bought out his father, keeping Western Rodeos a family business. Dan M. passed away in December 2013; his wife Linda now operates the firm with a partner, former Wranger NFR stock superintendent Ted Groene. Through generations of work securing some of the best stock on the West Coast, and a successful breeding program with semen the Russells started collecting in the late 1980s, Western Rodeos has become a strong rodeo contracting business. They sent a bull to the 2014 Wrangler NFR. WEBSITE : www.WesternRodeos.com. Wayne Vold Rodeo Co. Stock contractor: Wayne Vold

284

Stock Contractors