My son is pictured in this pictorial article of our fair.

Was a bit of a sad day for both kids as they sold their steers they've raised and worked with, nearly daily for months.

http://billingsgazette.com/news/loc...rce=facebook&utm_campaign=user-share

nothing like a little recognition

Kudos !

Is that your son "snuggling" up next to the cow? Cute picture.

Good deal!

Way more kids need those life lessons and responsibilities.

That brings back memories........ kids, some of them quite a bit older than those who had to deal with some tough separations when they sold their livestock.

Funny the one where kids were telling their critter about "steer heaven".

I can hear that conversation now....."....yeah, and in steer heaven, they'll give you back your nuts."

Not sure which one is yours, but kudos to him for the recognition of that which is a great springboard into success in life.

Congratulations to the boy!

My son is in the second picture with the Charolais steer.

Congrats! Lots of great kids there.

Good kids for sure!!

Congrats to your son and his steer for making the pictorial. Yeah, the first separation can be trying. However, as mentioned above, farm kids learn a lot of life lessons "in the barn".

One of the live stock judges at our local county fair gave an extemporaneous speech at the end of his judging. Basically thanking his parents for "raising him in the barn". And pointing out how the kids in the various live stock programs learn work ethics, responsibility, and the ups and downs of life. Not everyone gets a purple or pink or blue ribbon in the show ring. But they learn a lot of life lessons they can take with them that many kids raised off the farm will seldom understand.

Again, congrats to to your son...

My niece-in-law is a 4H coordinator in Northern Missouri, and lives the life, still. Their kids have all kinds of critters on Dad's old farm (nephew bought Dad's place some years ago).

She spent the whole of the Missouri State Fair down in Sedalia, and had a ball.

It's a great thing that her kids, and their cousins, are growing up with all manner of critters on their farms.

way to go.

Thanks. Both my kids did very well and they are both deserving of the congrats and accolades. The boy just seems to the THE ONE that attracts the attention. In this instance, a newspaper photographer catching him sitting with his Smolder-Buddy.

Many judges have this same type of talk before the selection of a champion of a specific species.

And it's true. My kids do very well. I truly believe they are gaining through this to better prepare themselves to tackle whatever faces them out there in the world, especially after I am gone.

We push them hard. Expect a lot of them. Some would say we push a little too hard. They are always given the choice to do less, but reminded that is not how you prepare to do your best and be the best.

Had a few conversations where I tell my son you are fixing to get your butt handed to you. Particularly in the showmanship contests. He takes it as me not believing in him. I've explained numerous times that I completely believe in him but see that he is not preparing mentally and not doing all he can to prepare and do the work to succeed.

Did my heart good a year or 2 ago when he came out after winning a showmanship class I told him he was going to lose based on what he was doing, and not doing the day of the competition. He hugged his mom and said "Dad didn't believe in me". I hugged him and said I did believe in him, but he was setting the table to lose because all he wanted to do on the day of the show is screw around with his buddies. Same time, I told him to not come running to me afterwards crying because he lost. That would be on him and I am not going to be very compassionate when you sink your own ship for having your head up your butt when you should be preparing.

All it took was lighting his fire and he kicked it into the right gear and won.

Great!

Went through the same thing oh so many years ago. Can still hear my dad's advise going through my noggin and out the other side. Still remember that Hereford steer that would follow me around like a puppy dog without a lead rope.

I took the money and ran. Never showed again.

4H builds solid men and women.

That's cool Tarkio.




I was never in 4H but grew up around cattle my entire life.

To me the hardest animal to sell will always be an old(open..) cow. We've got a little pasture close to home full of pairs but no bull. Easy walk to water, etc...

+10 year old cows raising their last calf. Some of them are home raised(one iron) cattle so you've known them since birth.


Always a little sad loading them up on the semi bound for the sales ring.

Great photo, those youngsters are growing up and learning thing the city kids will never know.

Very cool tarkio! colodog nailed it, but those animals are like pets to those kids hard to let go knowing the consequence.

BTDT. I was in 4-H for years and raised quite a few meat animals. It seems a shame to put all that work into a steer just to have it butchered but there isn't a kid who sells a 4-H animal who doesn't know where our meat comes from and that Disney is a fraud. Those animals don't talk back.

Coop got really good news for his steer. As we were getting ready to load out the resale steers and those going to the different processors, a guy from one of the local bull studs came up and said he needed another jump steer. Lucky for Coop, or more correctly his steer, Smolder, they took Cooper's steer. So he's going to live a fairly long life and Cooper can go see him once in a while.

I was 4H as a kid, always had a steer and a couple pigs. Great way to make sure a kid stays busy throughout the summer.


If I get a couple hours I'm planning on checking out my cousins steer show tomorrow.

Used to show pigs, many years ago. Lots more work with cattle.

Tarkio;
Good evening to you sir, thanks so much for sharing the family moment with us.

It's really heartening for this prairie farm boy to see the next shift still involved with animals and agriculture.

Please send along congratulations to your son for his hard work getting the steer to that stage.

I'll send you a tip of the hat too for the time and effort that I know goes into projects like that for our kids. Well done sir.

Thanks again, all the best to you folks this fall and good luck on your hunts too.

Dwayne

Very cool, Matthew!

BTDT with our kids here. They raised chickens, then turkeys, then hogs.

I struggle with photobucket, but got the pic grabbed and uploaded.

The people that came together to buy the injured girls sheep show just what America and 4H is about, I hope she heals well and returns to the show arena, and congratulations to everyone that make it possible for so many kids grow and dream.

Was planning on posting on that this morning also.

Very cool picture.





This.

A couple months ago I hauled off an old cow that I pulled out of her momma 17 years ago. She always had very good gaining calves without ever a worry up thru '14. For some reason she missed the last 2 years and she headed to the sale barn back in June.

Happened to catch of picture of her and her last calf. The bull had hopped over the fence and had his way with her a month earlier than he should have, so baby was a bit sooner than expected. This particular calf just had her first baby back in March. Hopefully number one of many.

I'm with you on shipping cows that have been around a long time and always got the job done. We have one old cow we bought as a pair probably 11-12 years ago. Best cow I have ever owned. Top producer. Calves regularly. One year she was one of the very last to calve. Must've slipped a calf and rebred late in the season. Next year she moved up her calving date by over 30 days. Unreal female. We have a few females back in the herd out of her thankfully.

Will probably ship her this fall. Wife thought we should last fall. Didn't think she'd make it through the winter. Thankfully I prevailed and we kept her as she had another heifer calf this spring. Going to be tough to see her go. Considering just letting her stay here until she dies or needs to be put down.

I work for an outfit that owned one of the top bulls in the Angus breed for a number of years. As the bull got old, the owner told the manager better get him in and across the ring before it's too late to get anything out of him. Manager told him no one on that ranch was hauling that bull to town. If he wanted him hauled to the salebarn, he'd have to do it himself. Owner was elderly so it never happened. Bull died on the place and they had his head mounted and buried the bull.