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.