{"id":156252,"date":"2026-02-08T19:08:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T19:08:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/156252\/"},"modified":"2026-02-08T19:08:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T19:08:14","slug":"junior-grand-champion-steer-fetches-record-550k-at-fort-worth-stock-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/156252\/","title":{"rendered":"Junior grand champion steer fetches record $550K at Fort Worth Stock Show"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Saturday, Feb. 7, a Hood County teen\u2019s life was forever changed after his beloved steer White Castle was sold for $550,000 to the Azle-based company Trico Electric at the Fort Worth Stock Show Junior Stock Show Sale of Champions.<\/p>\n

Caiman Cody, a 13-year-old from Tolar,<\/a> was awarded the grand championship title on Friday after spending the past year caring for the white European crossbreed steer.<\/p>\n

Wearing his bright purple Tolar Rattlers shirt, Cody walked White Castle into the auction ring to raucous applause before the bidding began.<\/p>\n

\"Caiman<\/p>\n

Caiman Cody of Tolar leads White Castle into the arena for the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo Junior Sale of Champions on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. White Castle was bought by Mike Bridges and Gary Menzies of Trico Electric Fort Worth for a record-breaking $550,000.<\/p>\n

(None\/amccoy@star-telegram.com)<\/p>\n

The bidding started at $25,000 and blew past last year\u2019s purchase of $375,000 in less than three minutes before settling at that record-breaking $550,000.<\/p>\n

After the auction, the visibly shocked Cody family spoke to reporters alongside the buyers from Trico Electric in a closed-off media room as the auctioneer bellowed outside.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just so thankful for these two nice men who donated so much money,\u201d Caiman said.<\/p>\n

Caiman\u2019s mom Kasey said that the prize money will transform their family\u2019s farming operation.<\/p>\n

\"Caiman<\/p>\n

Caiman Cody of Tolar raises his hat to celebrate the recording-breaking sale of White Castle during the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo Junior Sale of Champions on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. White Castle was bought by Mike Bridges and Gary Menzies of Trico Electric Fort Worth for $550,000.<\/p>\n

(Amanda McCoy\/amccoy@star-telegram.com)<\/p>\n

\u201cMy husband is a fourth-generation cattlemen…not only will we be able to grow our operation, we\u2019ll be able to help more families,\u201d Kasey said. \u201cThis is what we do, we live and breathe it every single day. To see that pay off in this scope is incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n

What\u2019s next for young Caiman, who now has such a large sum of money before he can drive a car?<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I want to go to college one day, and I\u2019d also like to be on the Texas Junior Ambassador board so I can help educate more kids about agriculture and help teach people,\u201d Caiman said. \u201cI love teaching people about stuff they don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n

Caiman isn\u2019t quite sure where he wants to go to school \u2014 he\u2019s only in eighth grade, after all \u2014 but he knows that he wants to stay in agriculture.<\/p>\n

\"Casey<\/p>\n

Casey and Bret Cody hug after their son, Caiman Cody received a record-breaking price for his junior grand champion steer at the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo Junior Sale of Champions on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. White Castle was bought by Mike Bridges and Gary Menzies of Trico Electric Fort Worth for $550,000.<\/p>\n

(None\/amccoy@star-telegram.com)<\/p>\n

Trico Electric, the buyer, has been in the Stock Show Syndicate for over 10 years \u2014 but its vice president, Gary Menzies, didn\u2019t expect to make such a big purchase this weekend.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just woke up yesterday and I said, you know what, I\u2019m going to buy that one,\u201d Menzies told reporters with a laugh.<\/p>\n

Trico Electric didn\u2019t even join the bidding until about halfway through the process. The company spent a pretty penny on two steers last year, and decided to go all-in on Caiman and his beloved steer.<\/p>\n

The grand champion steer isn\u2019t always from north Texas, but there was a special excitement in the air knowing that the star of the show was close to home.<\/p>\n

\u201cFort Worth\u2019s a great place, and they always support local charities,\u201d Menzies told the Star-Telegram. \u201cWe just love being a part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The auction is one of the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo\u2019s most popular events. As early as 8 a.m., well-dressed men and women filter into Wyatt Arena. The auction floor was a sea of white cowboy hats and silk neckties.<\/p>\n

Although buyers purchase these animals for far more than the market value of the meat, the real meaning of the day is to invest in future Texas farmers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s worth it to do it for the kids, and I\u2019m glad to see the kids benefit,\u201d Menzies said.<\/p>\n

In the immediate future, White Castle will be sent to the Fort Worth ISD agricultural science center, where he will be used in instruction and judging practice before eventually being processed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On Saturday, Feb. 7, a Hood County teen\u2019s life was forever changed after his beloved steer White Castle…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":156253,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[116,118,117,55002,64362,64361,64363,64360,44780],"class_list":{"0":"post-156252","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fort-worth","8":"tag-fort-worth","9":"tag-fort-worth-headlines","10":"tag-fort-worth-news","11":"tag-fort-worth-stock-show","12":"tag-gary-menzies","13":"tag-grand-champion-steer","14":"tag-tolar-rattlers","15":"tag-trico-electric","16":"tag-white-castle"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156252","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=156252"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156252\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/156253"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=156252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=156252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=156252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}