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Marty Barnes built a career in rodeo, as a competitor and a business owner providing bulls and bucking horses for events across the U.S.

Barnes is seeking to build a rodeo team as coach of the new Buena Vista University rodeo team in Storm Lake, Iowa.

“It’s a great opportunity to build a rodeo program at BVU,” said Barnes, who directed his daughters Micah Barnes, a 2020 BVU graduate, and Mary Barnes, a fourth year BVU student, in rodeo competitions for the Beavers. “I’ve been coaching competitors in the sport on an unofficial basis for 25 years. I also spent 25 years competing in professional rodeo. Now, I get the chance to put all that experience and knowledge to work in getting student-athletes at BVU to excel in something we’re passionate about.”

Barnes, who owns and operates Barnes PRCA Rodeo Company, will make the Barnes Ranch near Peterson, Iowa, available for practice sessions, as well as providing space for students to house their horses. The ranch is about 30 miles northwest of Storm Lake.

“We have 300 acres here for students to work their horses,” Barnes said. “This will be a place where we’ll work to improve on our rodeo skills. It’s also a place where students can come ride and relax as their horse gets exercise.”

The rodeo program is an outgrowth of BVU’s new Agriculture Institute, a focused-growth strategic initiative led by business and science professors, including Landon Sullivan, Instructor of Animal Science and a former rodeo competitor who coached rodeo teams at the collegiate level for nearly a decade.

BVU will compete in the Great Plains Region of the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association with about half of the competitions occurring within a 200-mile radius of Storm Lake.