Most teenagers spend their free time on sports, jobs, fine arts, friends, social media or video games, but for the past eight years, junior Loganne Barta has spent hers showing cattle.

“I first got into showing when my grandparents gave me a bucket calf,” Loganne said. “I went and showed it at my county fair. And then after that I just kept going to more and more shows.”

Even Loganne’s family noticed her early affinity for showing cattle.

“She was only 8 years old showing a 1,500-pound heifer, but I could tell right away Loganne loved it and was certainly not going to get pushed around,” Loganne’s mom, Kristan Barta, said.

Because of this passion, Loganne spent the next eight years preparing for and attending around 70 shows.

“When I was younger, what kept me going at shows was how fun it was. I got a chance to meet kids my age from across the country at every show, and it kept me motivated to share the same passion with other people,” Loganne said.

The first year, Loganne went to around five shows a year, and this number has increased each year. This year, she has gone to seven already and has about 28 more on the calendar this season, which runs from September to September.

“We want to go to one every weekend,” Loganne said.

This intense schedule requires a lot of commitment on Loganne’s part.

“[Loganne’s] work ethic is impressive,” Kristan said. “She spends countless hours preparing her animals to be competitive.”

The large time commitment can be challenging as a high school student.

“I think the biggest challenge is finding time,” Loganne said. “Right now I have a job, and then I have to go home and do homework and then try to work my show cattle, which doesn’t happen all the time.”

Because the cattle are judged on how they look for some categories, Loganne spends a lot of preparation time working on their hair.

“One of the main things is working hair on the cattle,” Loganne said. “I would go out and… rinse them every single day or even twice a day.”

There is still more to do once they arrive at a show, however. This preparation includes checking in, setting up, washing and clipping and takes around five hours.

“After we get to the show, we still have more things to do, which I’m used to, since it’s just a part of our schedule,” Loganne said. 

Loganne is preparing the cattle and herself for the two main events, showmanship and quality. In showmanship, the showmen, or exhibitors, are judged on how they set up the livestock, how they stand and how well they know the calf. In quality, the actual cattle are judged based on specific traits.

“I like showmanship better because it’s a good reflection on how much hard work I put in, compared to how hard quality is since that is basically judged on how much you pay for your animal,” Loganne said.

Aside from the main categories of showmanship and quality, at larger shows, like Angus Junior Nationals that Loganne went to in July, there are many more categories like public speaking, breeding class, cow-calf pair class and even quiz bowl.

“One of my top awards was getting third at Nationals for public speaking,” Loganne said. “We were supposed to do a speech about an agricultural-related industry, so I gave my speech on embryology, where I had to present my speech to a whole panel of judges.”

The shows also offer opportunities to learn more about different aspects of agriculture.

“There were also many clinics hosted, and two of my favorites that I went to was the fitting demonstration hosted by Sullivan Supply and the IVF clinic hosted by Trans Ova Genetics, which is about embryos and breeding,” Loganne said.

Beyond the awards and learning, Loganne gets a lot out of showing because of the community. 

“My favorite part about showing is probably the people that are there,” Loganne said. “Everyone that shows [is] really good friends with each other. So it’s nice to go and see them as often as I can.”

Even though Loganne has expanded far beyond what she did with that first bucket calf, the connection with family is really what keeps her going.

“Showing cattle has been in my family for forever,” Loganne said. “I think that motivates me to keep showing to pass on the family tradition.”