Club Calves/ Show Steers

[Val Strate]

Ok, I seen that there are horse people on here but has anyone ever gotten into showing club calves or feeder calves, or show steers. Anyone who is into this will know what I'm talking about. The reason I call it a hobby and not a business venture is because anyone who's in it knows you don't make a dime off of doing it but it's fun.

What breed of cattle do you show if you're a purebred breeder, or do you like crossbreds?

What kind of trips have you been on? Did you get to go to the National Angus or Shorthorn conventions?

Did you win any state fairs or jackpot shows?

And for anyone who's wondering, yes I am still alive.

[Laura Duke]

Hey Val,

You know, that's a really great question! I have not personally done any showing with cows, but I have seen some 4-H shows at the fair and it's kind of fun to watch.

I take it that you show steers? I don't know a whole lot about the matter, but I always kind of wanted to learn more about this! I bet that it's a lot of fun to show! As for making money off of it, it seems like if you're a 4-H member, there are some really generous folks who will pay top dollar when you market the winning cow, but I could be wrong on that!

Laura Duke:D

[Val Strate]

Yeah Laura, I did my fair share of showing cattle. I was a 4-Her for nine years and a FFA member for five. I did a lot of showing cattle when I was younger. It's a lot of fun yes and it can be a lot of work, depending on how much you want to put into it.

Sure it looks like 4-Her's make money with cattle when you go to these fair auctions and see people paying top dollar for the grand champion steer. However truth be told those grand champs aren't making as much money as what you figure. You have to put in the price of corn that it takes to feed the animal. Then if you bought the steer or feeder, you have that price tag to deduct from it. Then you have pasture expenses, usually that comes to a dollar a day. Plus, if you hire a professional groomer to groom your animal or if you do it yourself, you have to deduct the cost of the fancy shampoos and hair products you use to make that animal ready for showing. Also if you put the steer/feeder in a 'cold room' to make it's hair grow you have that expense. So really when you get done with that $20,000.00 state fair champion steer, you have an expense amount of $19,975.25. This leaves you with a profit of $25.75, (Those aren't real dollar amounts they are just hypothetical to give you an idea.) Oh, and I forgot to tack on travel expenses and the amount of gas you use to fill up that big one ton pickup and trailer you use to haul your steer everywhere. Which we all know about the price of gas lately.

Don't get me wrong, showing cattle is a lot of fun and teaches youngsters a lot about caring for things such as livestock and gives a young one a sense of responsibility and duty. However if you're looking to make money off of it, you're in the wrong business.

I had a lot of fun showing cattle. We never made any money but the trips I took with my family and our cows were priceless. The Junior National show was my favorite trip and I spent a whole week with my dad and our two steers. I got second in class and probably 11th over all in a National breed show. So yeah, I had fun. Plus, I love grooming cattle and any time I can pull out my clippers and play hairdresser on the cows is a delight. Plus there are more joys out of cattle besides just the showing part. If you raise mamas you get to see babies born and get to learn about biology and play doctor to them when they are sick.

So yeah, if you have any questions about cows, 4-H, or any of that, I'm more than happy to talk about it.

[GeneralLeeGirl]

Hey Val! Another cow-shower person! lol

I have been in 4-H for 8 years now, in the local beef club. I've had three projects most every year. (Market Steer, Yearling Heifer, and Cow/Calf Pair) I own a heard of 100 head myself of fullblood and commercial Angus and Shorthorn cattle (I'm not into the purebred business... not yet anyways! lol).

I have had the opportunity to work for some local Gelbvieh breeders at FarmFair International in Edmonton for the past about 5 years. And while I'm there I also kind of free-lance and show cattle for some Shorthorn and Hereford breeders when the Gelbvieh's don't show.

And I got to go to Calgary for the World Angus Forum with some local Angus breeders and work with them down there this summer and show some of their cattle. That was such a cool experience! There were so many different breeders and cattle from all around the world. You couldn't get another animal in Spruce Meadows! (And that place ain't small! lol) And I also got to go with the same people down to Agribition in Regina a few times.

I'm also starting to show my own cattle in some local shows in the area. Starting small. I want to get involved in the Aces Wild tour next year, showing steers and yearling heifers on a show circuit. There's actually quite a bit of money in that... if you can win! lol.. If not, it's kind of a money pit.. lol.

Your right Val, this definatly ain't the place to be makin money. But I do it cause I love it. I love leading my animals round the ring and showing them off, and possibly walking away with a big banner. I love grooming them all up all nice and fancy. And the things you don't learn! Like boning a calf's legs! I never heard of it til I went to FarmFair and saw a little Maine-Anjou steer with hair 5 inches long on his legs! It blew my mind!

[Val Strate]

Oh my goodness gracious! We got another cattle Jockey Gal here! Yeehaw!

Sorry I haven't gotten back to you GeneralLeeGirl but I've been kind of busy with things. Yeah my family was into cattle and yes I had a ton of fun with it. I can see that from what you've posted you know exactly what I'm takin' about. Welcome to Hazzardnet and good to meet another Steer Jockey Gal!

I can see though that you must be a cross bred person. Which honestly that's fine cause most everyone who knows the business knows the best cattle are not anyone breed, they are cross breds. However you said some curse words and some blessings in the same sentences of your post. Which once I tell ya the breed of cattle my folks use to raise, it'll all make sense to you. I'm a Shorthorn person. Which if you know anything about Shorty breeders, the word 'Angus' is a curse word. LOL. But since there aren't many of our kind on Hnet and this is all about makin' friends, I won't hold it against ya.

I'd love to hear stories if you have them. That's great that you still have your own and show. Cananda does have some good ranches up there.

[GeneralLeeGirl]

The word 'Angus' is kinda a curse word for anybody who ain't an Angus breeder! hahaha.

I love my Shorthorns! but I also like a little bit of Angus influence in my cows. You're not the first person to give me hell bout that! lol! The Shorthorn breeder I worked for this fall said that he would've fired me a long time ago if he knew that I ran ShorthornXAngus cattle! But I got him back at a show back in January when my blue-roan shortyXangus crosses beat-out his full-blood shorthorns in the pen of three! LOL. And I won't let him hear the end of it either...

The cattle business is a dying thing up here. Ever since BSE in 2003, the whole cattle thing has gone head-first into the tank. At FarmFair this year, there were about 500-700 head of cattle there, a far cry from the close to 2000 head they used to get. Those of us still in it are runnin a bit of a debt and only take the best to show hoping we can sell em for some big bucks. It's kind of a sad situation, but that's what the Alberta cattle industry is today. But someone's gotta keep the tradition going!

I got a show coming up here in April, Peace Country Classic. I'm gonna take a pen-of-three replacement heifers and a couple cow/calf pairs. Hopefully I'll do not bad and sell the replacement heifers at the sale. I can't wait! Get to see all the usual crowd and get up at 4 so i can get my cattle washed before the rush and then sit around and BS and drink coffee til the show! There ain't much better! lol

[Val Strate]

The word 'Angus' is kinda a curse word for anybody who ain't an Angus breeder! hahaha.

I love my Shorthorns! but I also like a little bit of Angus influence in my cows. You're not the first person to give me hell bout that! lol! Shorthorn breeder I worked for this fall said that he would've fired me a long time ago if he knew that I ran ShorthornXAngus cattle! But I got him back at a show back in January when my blue-roan shortyXangus crosses beat-out his full-blood shorthorns in the pen of three! LOL. And I won't let him hear the end of it either...

Yeah but it was the Shorthorn that really made that cross ya know. j/k. Yeah I had a blue roan once, awesome steer. I loved working with him. Once he got loose and jumped in the creek at my folks farm and dad had to go in after him. That was a sight. Ah cows...

The cattle business is a dying thing up here. Ever since BSE in 2003, the whole cattle thing has gone head-first into the tank. At FarmFair this year, there were about 500-700 head of cattle there, a far cry from the close to 2000 head they used to get. Those of us still in it are runnin a bit of a debt and only take the best to show hoping we can sell em for some big bucks. It's kind of a sad situation, but that's what the Alberta cattle industry is today. But someone's gotta keep the tradition going!

Ah, yeah I heard about the whole BSE thing. It makes me wonder how much of that is real and how much is media hogwash. It's a shame that there are folks out there that don't stop and think about people's livily hoods.

I got a show coming up here in April, Peace Country Classic. I'm gonna take a pen-of-three replacement heifers and a couple cow/calf pairs. Hopefully I'll do not bad and sell the replacement heifers at the sale. I can't wait! Get to see all the usual crowd and get up at 4 so i can get my cattle washed before the rush and then sit around and BS and drink coffee til the show! There ain't much better! lol

Hey good luck with that! I hope ya get a purple banner! Yeah there's nothing like washing cattle and grooming them up and standing around in the cold over a hot cup of joe! I remember those days and love'em. I use to swear up and down that gas station coffee was better than Starbucks, but then I was a cattle jockey kid so what did I know. LOL.

[GeneralLeeGirl]

Yeah but it was the Shorthorn that really made that cross ya know. j/k. Yeah I had a blue roan once, awesome steer. I loved working with him. Once he got loose and jumped in the creek at my folks farm and dad had to go in after him. That was a sight. Ah cows...

Ah, yeah I heard about the whole BSE thing. It makes me wonder how much of that is real and how much is media hogwash. It's a shame that there are folks out there that don't stop and think about people's livily hoods.

Hahaha... Yep, cows'll do that to ya! lol We live on a big, steep coulee bank and there's a fair-sized creek at the bottom. We were sorting our heifers, choosing which ones we wanted to keep and which we wanted to sell. Anyways, there was this pretty little red Angus cross heifer. Beautiful conformation, good mother. But she was nuts. She tried to take us a few times. I told dad there was no way i was keeping her around but he was determined. So he put her in the keeper pen. The first one in that pen. So she was crazy and riled up to begin with so she was running around looking for a hole. Then finally she just up and jumped the 7-foot plank corral with a good foot or so to spare! And she was gone! Well, she went down into the coulee and we went looking for her. Then about 15 minutes later, I got a call on my cell phone from the guy who lived across the coulee saying he had one of our heifers. We went over there and sure enough, it was her! It took her 15 minutes to get across the coulee, where it takes me and my horse closer to an hour and a half to get across! My dad decided then that maybe it wasn't such a good idea to keep her around... LOL

Yeah, the whole BSE situation had a huge impact here. Most of it was just the media playing it up to be a big pandemic, but it had a gigantic effect here. The boarder being shut didn't help matters at all either, since most cows sold in Canada wind up in the States. Back before BSE, everyone and their dog had a fairly large herd of cattle, now I really gotta think who's still in the business... I wrote a speech on the short and long term effects of BSE in Alberta this year for 4-H. And I also presented it at some local beef producer meetings and toastmasters and I just got an invitation to present it to the Alberta Beef Producers. (ABP is the biggest cattle group in Canada) I've had people cry at the end. BSE has NOT been fun... But you just kinda take the tractor another round and hope it gets better...