Throughout October, BEEF has been highlighting hard-working ranchers and their families with a photo contest. With nearly 200 entries submitted, this was one of our largest contests yet, and it was a challenge to narrow down the images to 20 finalists.

View the complete gallery here.

Our finalist photographers who rose to the top are Cody Ann Bainter, Hailey Rae, Makayla Flower, Christina Gerdes, Abby Majerus, Becky Alexander, Cyndi Van Newkikr, Jennifer DeFreece, Jared Hammen, Karoline Rose, Sarah Anderson, Britni Schmaltz, Connie Jo Mitchell, Terryn Drieling, Tianna Mayo, Alyssa Sudermann, Kayla Sargent, Courtney Varner, Billy Campbell and Sydney Cowan.

View the finalists gallery here.

From this list of standout photos, we asked our readers to select their favorite image. Last week, readers voted a total of 1,667 times before the contest officially closed, and now it’s time to announce our champions!

Congratulations to our grand champion photographer, who received 31% of the total votes — Cody Ann Bainter with “Frosty Morning Ride.” Bainter will receive a pair of Twisted X driving moccasins, courtesy of our contest sponsor, Twisted X.

Reserve champion honors go to Sarah Anderson with her entry titled, “Hanning Cattle Company.” Anderson will receive a $50 VISA gift card.

Related:Readers share images of ranch work & ranch life

Honorable mentions go to Courtney Varner and Kayla Sargent who were both in the running for the reserve champion spot.

As promised, three voters were randomly selected to receive an autographed copy of Max Armstrong’s book, “Stories from the Heartland.” The lucky winners of the books are Paul Midler, Martha Sargent and Tim Stobaugh. Congratulations!

Thanks again to all of you for making this one of our best contests yet! I would also like to give a big thanks to Twisted X for teaming up with us for this contest and for offering our readers such a great prize.

The opinions of Amanda Radke are not necessarily those of beefmagazine.com or Farm Progress.