Getting Down & Dirty: Rodeo Prep Starts From The Ground Up

Workers gearing up for the Black Hills Stock Show and Rodeo Rapid City, South Dakota offer a deep dig into the importance of their dirt. KNBN's Colton Hall reports.

(NBC News) — Dirt probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when you think of a rodeo.

For workers at Rapid City, South Dakota’s Rushmore Plaza Civic Center, it’s a top priority as they gear up for the Black Hills Stock Show and Rodeo.

The process begins with about 66 dumps truck loads of soil being brought to the Civic Center, which takes a day in itself.

It’s the same dirt that’s been used for the last 12 years.

“We know what we have and know how much we have for the most part,” says Britt Brown, the Trade Supervisor for the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center. “It’s not so much, it takes a lot of the guess work out of it. We add sand to it every year that also helps with the consistency of it, as far as getting packed and just the make up of the dirt.”

Anybody can just throw dirt on a pile, but the refinement of the top layer of soil that actually is the most important part.

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