Growing up in a small town, students are presented many opportunities to get involved both inside and outside of school. For a few students at Yutan High School, this means getting involved in showing cattle through 4-H.
These students—sophomore Tucker Barta, eighth-grader Cohen Ulrich and seventh-grader Jackson Drews—all started showing cattle due to having a family history of raising livestock. At the prime age that 4-H starts, around eight years old, all of these students made their first debut at the Saunders County Fair, getting more involved ever since.
“I probably started showing around eight years old,” Barta said. “I got into it from my family. We raised cattle and my sister started showing, so I also started showing.”
At first, all of these students only showed at their local county fair, but as they have gotten older, they have gotten more involved with showing year round. Some of these students now travel to up to ten shows a year.
“It depends on which ones we can hit and which ones we can’t, so I’d say we go to about six or seven shows each year. We go to shows during the wintertime and summertime,” Drews said.
While these students go to shows year round, they also travel across the state to show their calves.
“We go all across Nebraska, like to Kearney, Grand Island and Columbus,” said Ulrich, who also travels to Wahoo frequently for local shows.
Preparing for these shows takes hours of work at home, which all of the exhibitors take part in. Some of this work includes washing the calves, halter-breaking the calves, feeding the calves, clipping the calves and practicing showmanship with the calves.
“I’d say it takes at least an hour with the cattle each day. Sometimes it takes longer if we are clipping or doing other things,” Barta said. “We work the cattle almost every day but more in the summer since it’s hotter.”
After getting to a show, these students present their animal to a judge and hope to get placed first in their class, whether that is in a market, breeding or showmanship class, which are all judged slightly differently.
“Market is showing fat steers that the judges judge on their body type, the same with heifers too, but they are used for breeding. Showmanship isn’t really judged on the cow, it’s how you cooperate with the animal,” Ulrich said.
To these students, some of their favorite memories are when they have excelled in the show ring in any of these divisions. At shows, a variety of prizes are offered, either being a banner, belt buckle, trophy or cash prize.
“Getting pulled back for showmanship finals at the Saunders County Fair was my favorite memory because that’s one of the best times I’ve ever done in showmanship, so that was very fun,” Ulrich said.
Even if they didn’t get the results they expected, these students reflect that showing is a huge learning experience all the while.
“It’s not all about winning, it’s about how much fun you have and the experience,” Drews said. “I like showing because it’s something that not many other kids do.”
Some skills that these students can learn are strong social skills and a good work effort, which is easy to learn from hours in the barn.
“We work a lot in the barn with the cattle, like feeding, washing and cleaning pens. There’s a lot that goes into it,” Barta said.
Another reason these students enjoy showing cattle is that they get to meet new people that they wouldn’t have been able to meet otherwise.
“I have learned how to take care of animals and meet new people,” said Barta. “I’ve met people from all across the state that I wouldn’t have been able to if I didn’t show cattle.”
All in all, as these students grow older, they hope to continue developing their own skills and even help the next generation of cattle showmen.
“I want to keep showing, and I can eventually teach more people how to show as well,” said Drews.
