4-H'ers make plans for new year
With the first month of the new 4-H year behind them, three Butler County 4-H members already are making early preparations for the 2015 Butler Farm Show.
Farm show veterans David Schultheis of Karns City, Shirlann Harmon of Evans City and Becca Frazier of Butler all hope their upcoming year in 4-H will yield a profit when they return to the county event in August.
Ten-year-old David, a fifth grader at Moniteau and the son of Ken and Patti Schultheis, said he plans to show steer, pigs, sheep, and dairy cows in what will be his third year at the farm show.
A member of the Junior Agriculturalists Livestock Club, the Butler County 4-H Dairy Club and the B & B 4-H Dairy Judging Club, David said he met many of his friends through 4-H while enhancing his love for animals.
“I wanted to make money off of my animals, and I kind of wanted to see what it was like,” he said of his initial decision to participate in the farm show.
David, whose family camps at the show, said he's attended the farm show every year since he was young and got his first look at 4-H while helping his older cousins show dairy cows. He said working with other members, like his cousins, is a key to success.
“We help out each other a lot,” he said. “If someone needs help showing or they have an animal in the same class and they need helping feeding it, you have to help.”
Shirlann, 14, a ninth grader at Seneca Valley Intermediate High School and the daughter of Mark and Kathy Harmon, said she joined 4-H in 2010 with the Butler Bunni Bunch Club.
“I got my rabbits in 2007 for Easter,” she said. “The rabbits came first, and through rabbits, I found 4-H.”
Shirlann participated in her first farm show at age 9 and said she's looked forward to each year since.
“It's always fun to see how your work over the years, with improving the rabbits and improving the stock, has paid off,” she said. “It's always really exciting and it's always nerve-racking, those last couple seconds before the judge announces who won.”
Shirlann, who shows Flemish Giant and Holland Lop rabbits, also belongs to the Green Meadows Horse Club and participates in 4-H textiles, photography, drawing, and veterinary science projects throughout the year.
Seventeen-year-old Becca, a senior at Butler High School and the daughter of Jeff and Donna Frazier, began showing Hereford beef cattle with her older brother in 2007. In her second year, she expanded to market lambs and steers, although she no longer shows market steers.Like David, Becca said her family camps at the farm show every year and has attended for as long as she can remember. She and her brother got involved with 4-H and the farm show after watching their cousins show market pigs.A member of the Beef Breeding Club, Becca is on the 4-H Youth Council and is a member of the Junior Butler Farm Show Board.She said her first big win at the farm show was for showmanship her first year.“(Showmanship is) when the judge doesn't really look at your animal, but at how well you work with your animal,” Becca said. “You really have to put in a lot of time and hard work to make sure your animal's trained well enough.”For these three, farm show preparation won't take up a lot of time until the spring. Right now, the 4-H members mostly work to keep their animals cared for while they plan their first major step for the new farm show year.David said he has a steer and dairy cow now that he'll show in August. He'll get lambs and pigs in the spring.“You get (steers) in the fall, and you feed them through the winter because they have to be a higher weight than lambs and pigs,” David said. “Steers have to be between 1,000 and 1,500 pounds.”Shirlann said her main preparation comes from breeding, buying and selling rabbits to improve her stock. She said rabbits are judged on how well they exemplify the characteristics of their breed.Becca said she's focusing on her cattle now and will get lambs in March or April from a breeder in Lawrence County.“During the summer, I really start to work with (the animals) more, getting them baths, making sure their hair is conditioned,” Becca said. “After school gets out, then I work with them in the morning and in the evening, walking them, exercising them, and training them for the show.”This past summer, the work paid off for this trio. All three earned first place in multiple categories.“The process is very long and very hard because you have to work with your animal every day and get up early and feed them,” David said. “You have to keep working with them to get them ready for the show. But it's just fun to go out in the ring and compete.”
His ultimate goal for the farm show is a simple one.“In future years, (my goal is) having a good time with 4-H and making sure all my animals are cared for and healthy every year,” David said.Shirlann said getting to show her rabbits at the farm show and other state and national shows makes the work worthwhile. She said the hardest part is always losing a rabbit, either when one dies or when she sells one.She ultimately wants to use her experience to help younger 4-H members.“The reason why I'm still in 4-H is because of those older members who really helped me get into the club and feel welcome,” Shirlann said.“I feel like it's really my responsibility to help the younger kids and to just educate them because a lot of the older members are starting to graduate or age out. I'm starting to have to step up to that role in the club.”Becca said she plans to continue in senior showmanship, which includes 4-H members up to age 21. This year, she got to compete with her cousin at his last farm show as a 4-H member.“There was a lot of other tough competition, and I really didn't know how I was going to do, but we pulled out,” she said. “I got first place, and he got second.”Becca said that moment tied with winning Reserve Champion Market Lamb as the highlight of her first year as a senior showman.“I have worked for six years to get to where I'm at now and I put in a lot of time and hard work with my animals and training them,” Becca said. “It finally paid off this year, so that was really memorable.”
