Kaygan Witthuhn has been around Hereford cattle all her life. This year she has been given an opportunity to represent that industry in a special way – as Nebraska State Hereford Queen.

Kaygan will be entering her senior year at Callaway High School this fall and is spending 2024 promoting the Nebraska Hereford Association.

She explained the process of becoming queen which begins with an application. Then in November she had to speak to a group of about 20 Nebraska Hereford Women, which is the organization that started the royalty program.

“There aren’t just queens like me, there are also princesses and sweethearts. They are for different age categories,” Kaygan explained. “I had to give a speech on why I would like to be the Hereford queen and what the Hereford breed represents to me.”

Later that night the queen was crowned. “Last year’s queen presented the tiara and sash, and I had to give a speech about what I am excited for. All the Hereford breeders from Nebraska attend this banquet.”

The banquet took place in November 2023, and she said she has been trying to go to as many bull sales or production sales for the Hereford breed as she can throughout this year. “With sports and stuff it’s reallly hard as a high schooler to go to as many as I possibly can,” Kaygan explained. “I went to the Ridder Hereford Ranch bull sale, and a few weeks ago I went to the state Hereford show in Kearney. I will be going to the Junior Nationals which will be in Grand Island this year and I will get to walk around with the national queen and queens from different states. I’m excited!”

The Witthuhn family raises Hereford cattle, and her older sister Atalya was also a Nebraska Hereford Queen. Kaygan shows her cattle in both 4-H and FFA.

“I start my year off in November at the Fall Classic, the same place I was crowned. That’s where I buy my cattle,” Kaygan shared. “I show there and in February I go to the Winter Edition Classic in Kearney. I try to hit up as many shows as I can.”

Kaygan said she started showing cattle with her siblings at the county fair when she was 8-years-old. “As I grew up I started going to bigger shows with them, and now that I’m older I just get to go where I want,” she said with a slight giggle.

Kaygan has her own cow/calf operation and keeps her eye out for show cattle at the shows she attends. After high school she plans to pursue a career that has something to do with animals.

“I plan to get a degree that goes along with working with animals and learning more about them because that is what I’ve grown up around, and something I really enjoy,” she added.

Kaygan also said she can see herself someday becoming a member of the group that crowned her, the Nebraska Hereford Women. “I think it’s a great organization. I started out being a sweetheart and moved up to princess, and now queen. I feel like I have grown as a person. That is something the organization does, and I would love to be a part of it.

“I love going to shows and seeing the little girls’ faces when they see me,” she continued. “I just think it brings a lot of joy to them and gives them a role model to look up to. It has created a lot of good relationships for me with people.” .