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2025 Black Hills Stock Show | A Long Road to Supreme Row 

By Sarah Hill 

“It was really special competing against those guys. We couldn’t have done it without those other families who have taught us, so it’s truly hats off to them, too.” 

– Austin Moeller 

Showing a heifer in the Supreme Row Female drive and winning the coveted honor is a dream come true for many cattle breeders. Austin and Paislee Moeller won Supreme Row Female at the 2024 Black Hills Stock Show with their Charolais heifer, PGC BS Krissy. 



Power Couple 

Austin said that he grew up showing cattle, sheep and hogs in 4-H and FFA and also started a commercial herd of 200 head of cattle with his family. When Austin and Paislee began dating, they started a purebred Charolais operation that’s been growing ever since. Today, the operation includes about 60 head of purebred Angus, Charolais, Red Angus and Simmental cattle, with Charolais being the predominant breed. 



“We raise show cattle and purebred seedstock,” Austin said. “We sell bulls through private treaty and will hold our inaugural show cattle sale next fall. We show cattle from all of the breeds.”  

The couple sells open and bred heifers, in addition to bulls, and has a Facebook page, PGC Cattle.  

“We invite everyone to follow us as we take the next step in our journey with our sale next year,” Austin said. “We’d like to get more calves into other people’s hands so they can have the experiences that we’ve had with these cattle.” 

The couple recently started a fall calving herd with about 15 to 20 head, but most of their females calve in spring. About 20 to 25 females serve as recips every year. All other purebred females are artificially inseminated throughout late spring and early summer.  

“We work with Kaleb Kracht for some of our embryos,” Austin said. “He’s a book of knowledge and we love talking to him. He’s done it all when it comes to setting cows up and he’s seen things in the beef industry. All of our embryo calves that we’ve got from him have done every well.” 

Strong Genetics for a Lifetime 

The top qualities the Moellers look for when breeding cattle are feet and legs and skeletal structure. Austin said their goal is to create cattle that will last a long time, whether that’s in the show ring or for production.  

“Bulls also have to have enough muscle to producer powerful heifers and steers that can hit the scales heavy,” Austin said. 

Show cattle are fed a grain diet and have access to free choice mineral. All show cattle and bulls get long-stem native hay. When bred heifers and cows aren’t out on pasture, they’re fed a total mixed ration including silage, grass hay, alfalfa, distiller’s grain and corn.  

“The most important thing is the mineral program,” Austin said. “We work with Purina for our mineral. All the calves get Hubbard creep feed from Agri-Tech in Brookings, South Dakota. It’s a great product and excellent service and people. I can call them and count on them to have the feed when I need it. Our calves have done well on it.” 

The Moellers have worked with different nutritionists through Purina—Grady Ruble, John Bray and Kyle Hunt. Austin said they are all very professional and knowledgeable.  

“I ask a lot of questions, and they don’t ridicule me for that,” he said. “I strive to learn something every day so we can one day we can be self-sufficient. They’ve guided me to where I am today, and I’m very thankful for them.” 

Show Ring Success 

It often seems like it takes a village to get a show ring winner, and the Moellers have built their village for success through partnerships on cattle and donor cows through their ET program.  

“We work with Tim and Emily Anderson and their son, Trace; Blake and Chris Sweeter and their kids; and Glen, Sherry and Wesley Johnson with Chestnut Angus,” Austin said. 

The Moellers have shown at the BHSS for the past several years. The couple have pushed their breeding program with ET and AI with the goal of competing with the top cattle producers in the nation. 

“Not every year do you get the chance to participate and excel on a level like 2024,” Austin said. “It’s been a growing process.” 

They also had the Champion Charolais Bull at the Black Hills Stock Show in 2024 with the Anderson family.  

Supreme Row Female 

Krissy is a naturally-bred Charolais calf out of CCC WC Redemption 7143 PLD ET and Faye 8906, a previous BHSS winner from Thomas Ranch that Paislee had shown.  

“We got Krissy on a TMR and into shape for AI,” Austin said. “We bred her to Wild Indian Acres Backwater Jack. When we brought her back off pasture in October or November, I sent a picture of her to Blake recommending that we get her ready for BHSS. She took off, doing all the right things at the right time to excel in Rapid City.” 

The Moellers or their partners do their own grooming, breaking to tie and lead, and working on improving the show cattle’s docility. Austin and his team prepare their cattle for BHSS by washing, working their hair, shampooing and blowing them out—a process he said takes a special skillset and drive.  

“It takes the right knowledge to get the hair worked to look right and them clip them out right,” he added. 

Since her glorious win at the 2024 BHSS, Krissy calved a heifer. 

Austin said that while winning Supreme Row Female was a huge feeling of success, he credits that being around the right people helped him and Paislee to get where they are today.  

“We’ve been there for a couple of years, watching others go on to compete in Supreme Row and win, and we’ve been excited for our friends,” Austin said. “It was really special competing against those guys. We couldn’t have done it without those other families who have taught us, so it’s truly hats off to them, too.” 

Austin describes the scene when Krissy was in the ring for consideration for Supreme Row Female. His crew were all standing around, excited to be on the floor, and everybody thought Krissy looked good. 

“You’re just holding all these emotions, and as soon as they slapped her as the champion, I lost it for a second,” he said. “It was an out of body experience. I climbed the gate and everyone was giving high fives and jumping around. It meant a lot.”