BHSS Premier 2026 | Bob Mills

Bob Mills of Gordon, Nebraska has been a longtime consigner and is a former board member of the Black Hills Stock Show.  

“My father died when I was 10. My granddad Joe Huckfeldt used to show, and he showed cattle in the first [Black Hills] Stock Show. As a kid when I was 8 or 10 I went to the Stock Show with him, and the Central States Fair. He was a purebred Shorthorn breeder,” Bob Mills said.  

“As a kid about 14, the first time I went on my own. I was with Sam Moore hauling Herefords to the Central States Fair. I was sitting in the middle of a single cab pickup. We pulled up to the gates. Sam proceeded to visit with the guy for several minutes. As we drove away, he looked at me and said, ‘He may only have one job a year. Who knows? But you treat him with respect, and he’ll treat you with respect.’ I can remember it like it was yesterday.” 

Mills went on to help other cattle exhibitors, and he learned how to fit and work hair. “My Granddad, Sam Moore, and Uncle Joe Huckfeldt, Jr. spent a lot of time with me. I spent my summers haying and going to cattle shows. I graduated from Gordon High School and went to Lincoln for a year. I didn’t need to go back so I learned the hard way. I worked for Eldon Krebs after college and I learned a lot about the industry and the show deal from him.” 

Mills married his wife Tina in 1983, and their daughter Bailie was born in 1989. “I worked for the state of Nebraska Highway Department for 28 years and did contract haying. We raised seedstock Shorthorn cattle and a few club calves.” 

In the late 1990s he began to show his own tegistered Shorthorns, and he also would show for other cattle owners. “They would bring them to me in October, and I would get them ready for the winter shows.  

Through the years of going to the Stock Show I wanted to get involved. In 2000, I got on the Livestock Committee. Since then I have been chairman of the Livestock Committee and in 2020, I got on the Board of Directors. That is a 4-year term, so this is my first year off the board. Good people, a nice facility, and it’s nice to go and be involved with them. Rapid City has always been a home away from home for us. The Stock Show was our vacation before we started calving.” 

Mills’ daughter showed cattle growing up and even took some bulls to the Stock Show before her marriage. She married Bailey Burress, and they ranch south of Ely, and she teaches school in Cody, Nebraska. “We call them Bailie ‘Girl’ and Bailey ‘Boy’.  

One year our son-in-law qualified for the World Series of Team Roping in Las Vegas. My wife said on the trip that this was the first time we went on a vacation without pulling a trailer or going to the doctor,” Mills said. 

Mills has beat cancer three times, in 1999, 2014, and 2017 but has had a clean bill of health since then. “It was hard to depend on everyone else to get my AI and stuff done, so I changed our operation to a replacement heifer deal.” 

His wife Tina passed away unexpectedly in 2019.   

In 2017, Mills was awarded the BHSS Silver Spur Award for his contributions to the Stock Show. He has been involved in many other organizations, including being the Livestock Superintendent at the Nebraska State Fair. He served on the Sheridan County Fair Board for many years and served a couple of terms on the 4-H Extension Council. 

“One thing that amazes me about the BHSS is how it has advanced and grown over the years. The quality of the event, whether it be cattle consigned, vendors, entertainment, or events is amazing. It has progressed and continues to grow and expand, giving (something for) everyone from town folks to rural people whether they are 2 or 92 yrs old.  

“When it first started, we showed in the Soule building at the fairgrounds. Man, it was cold. Now with the Events Center and the Monument, it is one of the classiest stock shows you will go to,” Mills said. 

“Bob has so many contacts and connections in the livestock show industry. He attends other shows and brings back the best ideas to us,” said Ron Jeffries, General Manager of the BHSS.  

“He has judged for us and is the first one to step up when we need help even to setting up panels. He comes up for the entire week of the Central States Fair and again for the Stock Show. He believes in giving back to the industry and we are hopeful to get him back on the Board.” 

Jeffries mentioned how Mills drives from Gordon to Rapid City for every board and committee meeting, sometimes making multiple trips every month. 

“The [Black Hills] Stock Show group of people are like having another family. Especially when I was on the board of directors,” Mills said.