LINCOLN — For decades, the Aksarben Stock Show was an Omaha fixture, operated by the titans of the city through the Knights of Aksarben.

But now there’s a showdown in central Nebraska over who owns the rights to the stock show name and logo.

The Nebraska State Fair, which took over management of the stock show after its move to Grand Island four years ago, has sued two central Nebraska men, including an associate of Gov. Pete Ricketts, over ownership of the name Aksarben Stock Show, which is billed as the nation’s largest 4-H livestock show.

The federal lawsuit claims that Trent Loos, the governor’s associate; his wife, Kelli; and Greg Harder, a former State Fair employee, have wrongly claimed the name and the stock show’s unique logo for their own use via a nonprofit corporation they formed a year ago called Nebraskans 4 Youth Livestock Inc.

Harder, of Phillips, used to manage the stock show for the State Fair. But he was fired in September 2020, just a couple days after that year’s show ended. His role in forming the Nebraskans 4 Youth Livestock entity to stage livestock shows was cited as a sign of disloyalty and an effort to “seize control” of the fair’s assets.

The State Fair wants the name and logo back and, in the lawsuit, says Harder and the Looses have refused to relinquish them. The fair claims that deceives the public, violates the state’s deceptive trade practices act and harms the event, which is slated to be held at the fair’s barns in Grand Island on Sept. 24-26.

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