4-Hers Know Beef - 2011 Ponoka District 4-H Beef Show and Sale

It has been two years since I started University and had to give up 4-H.  As much as I wanted to stay in the club until I was 21, unfortunately no condos in Edmonton came with a "cows allowed" box to check off.  Of course some say "pets allowed", but cows aren't included in that... don't they realize to many farm kids cows are our pets!

Baby Spice wants to come to the city with me. 

Before I get too far into telling you about how the 4-H show and sale went this year, I was just reminded of a story from my trip to Denver with the Five Nations Beef Alliance Young Ranchers Program.  I left the Edmonton International Airport two hours delayed because of the crazy snowy weather, arriving in Denver two hours later than the rest of the people I was with.  With my great luck, and my ability of always being on time (not) I of course missed the hotel shuttle, resulting in a $65 dollar cab ride to the hotel.  I jumped in a cab with a friendly cab driver from India.  We talked about his life and why he had moved to Denver, and so on. The conversation continued to a point when I told him that I was late for a conference and hated the snowy weather at home.  He asked me if I wanted to grab a bite to eat before the meeting.  I explained to him that the conference I was attending was in conjunction with the National Western Livestock Show, and I was awaiting a delicious steak supper.  And then the unthinkable happened.
Cab driver: I'm from India, we worship cows there.  I cannot believe you would consider a steak delicious.
Sam: I love cows too, probably to the point that some would consider worship, their my favorite animals, and I have some that are pets!
Cab driver:  I have pets too.  My dog.  I would never eat my dog.
Sam: (flustered)  ummmm....  So is it always this cold in Denver?


So back to my story about 4-H Achievement Day

My younger sister is still in the program so I was almost as excited to watch the show as I would have been had my own cattle been in it.  Jessica (my sister) had three projects this year: a steer, a heifer, and a 2 yr old cow/calf project.  4-H is open to any kids between the ages of 9-21, with a variety of clubs available from beef cattle, horses, sheep, to bunnies, cats and even cooking and sewing.

Even Grandma loves 4-H

Beef 4-H Projects give members an opportunity to get a hands on understanding of beef cattle production and management by giving the member the responsibility of owning, caring for and keeping records on their beef cattle projects.  It teaches the members essential skills not only with handling the beef cattle, but also in marketing, judging, showmanship, public speaking, grooming and record book keeping.  It also helps the members to gain an appreciation of the beef industry not only in their community but around the globe.
The members can have a total of up to five projects

1. Market Steer
2. Carcass Steer
3. Heifer
4. 2 yr old Cow/Calf
5. Mature Cow/Calf

The members are then in charge of halter breaking these calves, caring for them, feeding them and keeping feed records, and preparing the calves for the Achievement day where they take part in conformation classes as well as skill competitions such as showmanship, judging, and grooming.


The heifer and cow/calf projects give the members more of a look at the practical aspects of purebred and commercial beef operations.  The members choose a heifer, and can then continue to show her in 4-H as a mature cow with a calf on her.  And the opportunities to show the heifer at various summer shows are endless, giving the member an opportunity to meet more people and sharpen up their cattle skills.

Jessica and her 2 yr old Cow/calf project

So now that you know what this is, I have exciting results.


My family had 11 calves at the show, four being owned by my sister, and seven that had been purchased by other 4-H members in different clubs in the district at the start of the 4-H season.  Our family also raised the charity steer, sold the calf to the club members and donated the feed for the steer.  A charity steer is a steer that the members raise and sell at their sale, with all of the proceeds going to a charity, this year being Big Brothers and Big Sisters!

Dad showing the Charity steer while the 4-Hers judged
On Monday was the Female show.  It was here that the members exhibited their heifer and cow/calf projects.  Jessica's yearling heifer placed third in our club, which unfortunately stopped her from advancing.  Her cow/calf pair was reserve club champion female!

Me having a little lie down on Waldo, the Charity Steer

We had sold two heifers to a couple young ladies from the Central Ponoka Club.  These two heifers got Champion and Reserve Champion for their club.  Awesome!

Jessica and her Charolais Cross heifer, Tomi

Tuesday was the Steer show and sale, with showmanship and grooming classes to start it off.  Jessica was up at 5:30 am in anticipation for the show, getting her steer ready for showmanship and grooming and making sure all of her animals were fed.


She started the day off great, winning Club champion in Showmanship, and Reserve in grooming.  This advanced her to the Interclub competition in which she was Grand overall Champion in Showmanship.

Then came the steer classes.


The classes started with West Ponoka, the club she belongs to.  Jessica's steer advanced from the first split, only to become the West Ponoka 4-H Beef Club Champion.  It was then the Central Ponoka Club's turn.  In this club were the five other steers that we had sold.  My family was all smiles as the judge placed all five of our calves in this club on top, placing them 1st through 5th.
A couple of calves were very special to me in this bunch, as they had been calves of my own 4-H cows.  I had shown these two steers as calves at the Summer Synergy show with their mothers in the previous summer, and loved them greatly, so I was extrememly happy to see that they had turned out so well.  Princeton, one of the calves I sold, came off of my favorite cow Pheebee, and had been in the Ponoka Stampede Parade that July.  He was a doll and when I sold him to the 4-Her he was completely halter broke, clipped, and worked well with a showstick.  Princeton was the Central Club's Champion Steer.

My other calf, Dave, who I also showed during the summer, was fifth in their club, falling behind the other four calves who were also purchased on our farm.

After all of the Club Champions were chosen, we all sat with our fingers crossed as the Club champions and reserve champions came back into the ring for the Interclub Champion class.  Three out of the six calves in this class came from our farm, two of them being Club Champions.


When Trigger, my sister's Charolais Cross Steer was slapped as Grand Champion, I was told the smile on my face couldn't have been any bigger.  And then Princeton, the calf that was once mine, was slapped as Reserve Grand Champion.  The smile grew.

It was already such a great day, we weren't even thinking about the sale.  As the Grand Champion, Jessica's steer was sent through the ring first.  The turnout of buyers at the sale was fantastic and she ended up getting $2.70 a pound for her 1400 pound steer.  A big thanks to Almita for purchasing her steer.

Princeton sold next, bringing $2.50 a pound.  And the prices stayed strong from there, with an average price of $1.90 a pound.  Never in the years that I was in 4-H was there an average sale price that high.  This gives me hope, and it makes me excited that the beef industry is picking up again, and strengthening.  I would personally like to thank each and every buyer that bought calves.  Supporting youth in agriculture is so important, I can't think of a better way to buy beef and advertise your company.  We need to promote the love to agriculture as much as possible, because the youth are the future, and unfortunately the number of farmers in our world is aging as well as decreasing.  

By showing the youth that people care and that there are good things that come out of agriculture, I hope that more young ranchers will stay in the industry and share the passion that I have for cattle .

Thanks for tuning in!! 


<3 Sam