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2024 Tours2024 OPTIONAL HOUSTON TOURS
All tours are an additional fee and are not included with Commodity Classic registration fees. Cosmo Cool Concepts, Inc. is the official Commodity Classic tour provider. Tours pre-registration deadline is February 6. No tour refunds will be issued after this date.
Click here to register for a tour.
Commodity Classic Tours DescriptionsTUESDAY TOURS:
BR Cutrer Cattle Ranch and Buc-ee’s
8:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. $150 per person (includes BBQ lunch)
Visit a family heritage of cattle, land, faith, and courage at the BR Cutrer Ranch.
Cutrer family ancestors introduced a new breed of Indian cattle to Texas in 1924, laying the foundation for what we recognize today as the highest quality Brahman cattle in the world.
It all started in 1936 with Rachel Cutrer’s great-great-great-great grandmother, Rachel Ann Northington Hudgins. A pioneer, Rachel Ann became the first woman in Wharton County to own her own cattle brand and, together with her four sons, she founded J.D. Hudgins, Inc. — the largest Brahman ranch in the USA at the time.
Fast forward to today and Brandon and Rachel Cutrer’s BRC brand has become an iconic global symbol of Brahman bloodline excellence. Upholding the family legacy by combining tradition with modern expertise, B.R. Cutrer is opening new frontiers for the future of the Brahman breed.
in 2018, they formed Brahman Country Beef LLC, the USA’s first 100% Brahman branded beef program. This beef features purebred Brahman steers raised and fed on our ranch, featuring our genetics. This program allowed BRC to basically experience the beef supply chain full circle – from seedstock bull sales, to selling retail beef.
The BBQ Brisket featured in your lunch at the THE RANCH DOWNTOWN Venue will be from the ranch!
And you can’t leave Wharton without stopping at BUC-EE’S! You’ll have time to look, shop and sample all this TEXAS-SIZED gas station has to offer before heading back to Houston!
SOLD OUT Hanson Mueller Port Elevator – Port Authority – The International Port of Houston Boat Tour
11:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. $110 per person (includes boxed lunch)
Your tour begins at The Houston Port Authority with a bird’s eye view over the ship channel and an explanation of services and commodities coming through the port. Ty Resonover, Sr. Manager of Traded Development will lead this discussion and answer questions from the group. A short drive away and you will tour the Hansen-Mueller Port Elevator Plant.
Hansen-Mueller provides an individualized approach to grain merchandising through price discovery, marketing, transportation and logistics throughout the world. Their experienced and informed traders handle commodities including corn, soybeans, wheat, and oats, as well as a number of feed ingredients and byproducts like dried distillers grains (DDGs) and soy hull pellets.
They provide a range of services in bulk commodity logistics. From on-farm grain loading by truck, to ocean vessels and everything in between, they have the experience, the contacts and the facilities to assist you with importing, exporting, storing and trans-loading bulk commodities.
After the plant your bus will take you a short hop to Port Houston’s Sam Houston Landing for a 90 Minute boat tour of the ship Channel. Visiting sightseers aboard the M/V Sam Houston can enjoy passing views of international cargo vessels and operations at the port’s Turning Basin Terminal. The 95-ft. vessel features air-conditioned lounge seating, as well as standing room outside on the boat’s deck.
Space Center Houston
9:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. $105.00 per person (Lunch on own at space center)
“Intelligent fun” defines the way groups describe their Space Center Houston experience - a day when they’ve gone inside a shuttle carrier aircraft, explored NASA Johnson Space Center, seen flown spacecraft and more.
Space Center Houston, a leading science and space exploration learning center. It is one of Houston’s top attractions, the area’s No. 1 attraction for international visitors, the Official Visitor Center of NASA Johnson Space Center and a Smithsonian Affiliate. The center features more than 400 space artifacts, permanent and traveling exhibits, exhibits and experiences and theaters related to the exciting future and remarkable past of America’s human space-flight program.
For those who went to the Kennedy Space Center at 2023 Commodity Classic, the difference between NASA in FL vs NASA in TX: Kennedy Space Center is the launch pad, Houston is the command center.
WEDNESDAY TOUR:
Houston City Bus Tour
8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. $60.00 per person (includes boxed lunch)
Houston is nicknamed “Bayou City”, “H-Town”, “Space City”, and “The 713”. The city has a population from various ethnic and religious backgrounds and a large and growing international community. Houston is the most diverse metropolitan area in Texas and has been described as the most racially and ethnically diverse major city in the U.S. It is home to many cultural institutions and exhibits, which attract more than seven million visitors a year to the Museum District. The Museum District is home to nineteen museums, galleries, and community spaces. Houston has an active visual and performing arts scene in the Theater District and offers year-round resident companies in all major performing arts.
Our tour guide will take you on a ride around Houston to see some of the most iconic sites and explain the early days of Houston to present day accomplishments.
SATURDAY TOURS:
Port of Houston Boat Tour
8:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. $69 per person
Visiting sightseers aboard the M/V Sam Houston can enjoy passing views of international cargo vessels and operations at the port’s Turning Basin Terminal. The 95-ft. vessel features air-conditioned lounge seating, as well as standing room outside on the boat’s deck.
For more than 100 years, Port Houston has owned and operated the public wharves and terminals along the Houston Ship Channel, including the area’s largest breakbulk facility and two of the most efficient container terminals in the country. Port Houston is the advocate and a strategic leader for the Channel. The Houston Ship Channel complex and its more than 200 public and private terminals, collectively known as the Port of Houston, is the nation’s largest port for waterborne tonnage and is an essential economic engine for the Houston region, the state of Texas and the U.S.
Minute Maid Park and Saint Arnold’s Brewery
11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. $125.00 per person (includes one free beer at brewery)
You’ll head to Minute Maid Park, home to the Houston Astros. The two hour tour will visit the Upper Deck, Gallagher Club, Bank of America Suite Level, Honda Club Level, Press Box, and Houston Methodist Hall of Fame Alley. Fans will also have the opportunity to check out the Lexus Field Club, Michelob Ultra Club, the Union Station Roof Deck, and on non-game days can visit the Diamond Club and Astros Dugout.
Then it’s off to Saint Arnold’s!
Saint Arnold Brewing Company is Texas' Oldest Craft Brewery. Their small crew does everything at the brewery: brew the beer, filter the beer, keg the beer, bottle the beer, sell the beer and drink the beer. They brew several different beers; some are year-round, some are seasonal, some are special release, and a few are single batch brews. There will be a Brewmeister on hand to talk about the brewing process and each attendee aged 21+ will enjoy one beer on the house and time to grab a bite to eat if you’d like (food is not included in tour fee).
This tour will make a Stop at Rodeo Houston on its way back to the Center to drop off anyone who has bought rodeo tickets through Commodity Classic.
Giant Texas Distillery
11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. $105.00 per person with flight OR $69 without flight
What started as a family business morphed into one of the largest privately held coffee companies in the country, when in 2014, Carlos de Aldecoa the man dubbed "The Coffee King" decided to expand his beverage empire into distilling spirits.
Today, through determination and grit, he has created the largest distillery west of the Mississippi. Giant Texas Distillery tours provide an immersive adventure connecting culture and science to craft distillation. You’ll see their grain-to-glass process and taste their unique Texas spirits straight from the barrel.
Spirits produced include whiskey, bourbon, vodka, brandy, gin and even beer. They have wine available as well as non-alcoholic beverages. PLEASE BRING A VALID PHOTO I.D.
This tour will make a Stop at Rodeo Houston on its way back to the Center to drop off anyone who has bought rodeo tickets through Commodity Classic.
United Ag Cotton Gin and Buc-ee's
9:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. $75 per person
This tour takes you to El Campo Texas just southwest of Houston on the Gulf Coast to tour a working Cotton Gin and warehouse. United Agricultural Cooperative Inc. is the result of several ag cooperatives merging along the Texas Gulf Coast over the previous century. Today, United Ag’s membership consists of 1,165 farmers, ranchers, and landowners involved in agricultural production.
On our way back to the convention center, we’ll stop at Buc-ee’s. No trip to Texas is complete without a stop at one of these gas stations/convenience stores/mega marts that boast tasty barbecue, homemade fudge, fresh sandwiches, a wall of jerky, souvenirs… well, everything, really. Even award-winning restrooms! Grab some lunch for the bus and some of Buc-ee’s famous Beaver Nuggets for your hotel room! (Purchases at Buc-ee’s are not included in tour price).
This tour will make a Stop at Rodeo Houston on its way back to the Center to drop off anyone who has bought rodeo tickets through Commodity Classic.
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