Hard Work

Working on a farm is an everyday job. Farmers do not take vacations like most people especially ones with large numbers of animals. The average day starts as soon as the sun rises. The farm i worked on animals were fed before we ate breakfast. Therefore we fed all the dogs, show steers, and then heifers in the lots. After we eat we set out to do a days work. We have to always check on large herds of animals, fix fences and gates along with other manual labor. Getting dirty is an everyday thing and shorts are not an option. We work the hardest from sun up to around lunch. After we get lunch naps are taken to reenergize us and then after about an hour we are back working. There is always plenty to do on the farm. Kids learn good lessons like how to drive a tractor, work animals, and get the feeling of a hard days work under there belt.  At night kids are allowed more freedom from riding all the machinery to hunting or fishing. The life of a farmer is fun with lots of hard work and not a day taking off.

How to Show

Showing is an art and the key to it is the work you put in at home. Your animal should be halter broken way  before the show and worked with for 15-20 minutes a day. Steers will stand longer in the show ring than 20 minutes so practicing for longer periods of time always helps. You should introduce the show halter at home also. The chain could spook your animal and cause a disaster at the show. If you walk him with these at least two weeks in advance he will be perfectly fine with it. The next thing is using the show stick. Placing the animals feet in the correct order will help him in the show. His front feet should be under him completely even and made into a ninety degree angle where is leg meets his body. The back feet should off set each other. These takes patience, practice and work at home. The animal needs to stay calm and still when the judge comes by to take a look. ANyone can help you with this by simply touching his back. Keeping him calm by scratching his belly will help with his nerves. Showing steers is lots of fun and experience will make you a better shower. 

Handling Livestock

If your involved with livestock everyday there is a chance you could be hurt. Safety should be the number one goal on every farm. Many things can happen. Cow people run a great risk of getting kicked, trampled, and stepped on. Cows are for the most part color blind and have problems judging distances when panicking The injuries can range from a bad bruise to a broken bone, and sometimes death. There are many signs you should watch for to help prevent these things from happening. Cows with calves are always more aggressive and bulls have the greatest chance of hurting you. THey kick from the sides and behind them unlike horses who mainly kick directly behind. Sick or hurt animals also can be hard to deal with. Patience is a key part in being safe around livestock. Cows are generally friendly animals but in the right situation can be very dangerous. They can see almost there entire body. As long as you approach them from the front or side they will move but if you arrive at there "blind spot", the rear you are likely to be kicked. Squeeze chutes are a great way to keep yourself and the animal from being hurt. Moving cattle in tight places can be dangerous and there should always be a quick way out for the handler. Being in tight places causes them to panic and buck around. If you are trying to move the cow forward you should approach it from the back but where he can see you. Talking to these animals also lets   them know your back there and that your not going to hurt them. If you want them to back up stand in front of them, and moving left or right depends on the side that your on. Steers, heifers, cows, and bulls all dont like small children. The best thing to do is keep them away.

Show Steers

Show steers are common and many cattle farms. Show steers are a farmers best calfs that he produced that year. Some farms get more than others but everyone strives for the best. Show cattle are show in many different groups and ways. There are large shows for the top people and most states have a fair show along with your 4-H county show. Different types of cattle are show for instance heifers, feeder steers, fat steers, dairy cows and others. Show cattle are kept in a barn and rarely graze in open pasture. They are fed the top feeds produced in the farmers area and are worked with everyday. The cattle are halter broken at a young age and then led by the handler for exercise and practice. During the heat of the day most show cattle have fans blowing on them constantly to keep the hair which is a plus at the show. They get bathed a couple times a week and sometimes more. Before going back to the barn after a bath they are blown completely dry and new hay is spread to keep them clean. All manure that might be dried up under there belly or legs is removed. Before the show they are trimmed to look better for the judge who places all the animals in the ring. On show day the cattle get fed early and are not given any water. This is because five minutes before they go in the show ring they are given water in which makes them look heavier and more stout. They cattle are shown to the best by the handler and then taken for harvest or back home to compete in more shows. The overall grand prize at any show is Grand Champion, next is Reserve Champion and then they count down by numbers starting with third. Other awards your show steer could win is the weight index which is normally higher than most cattle raised for harvest. Most show steers have a weight index or how much they gain throughout the certain time allowed, is normally around three or four pounds per day. Show cattle are raised in what would be called the high class in society today.

How clip a show steer

Clipping show steers is a art and every steer is different. Therefore, you need to first find what needs to be be clipped to make him look better than he does. Most judges like to have wide backs, thick boned legs, look like a box, and wide rear ends. There are other minor things that will help but for the most part thats it. Before clipping your steer should be completely clean and blown dry to keep dirt from dulling the clippers blade. Some people can clip calm steers tied to the fence but i find that it works best to put them in a chute for clipping. I would start with the head because its simply the easiest part. You need to take the hair all the way done to a buzz being sure you get his nose, ears, sides of his face and under his mouth. The hair is normally really long and curly on a steers head so you should always try and clip against the hair. I would then move to his back. The hair should be combed up and towards his head. If you have an extra hand around to constantly comb after you clip it helps out a lot. For the back you want to take the hair down short, in a straight line down his back starting at his shoulder. From there you can take your finger and rest under the blade like a guard and come out off his body leveling of the hair with the straight line you clipped down the back. Remember you can always come back and take off more but you can not  put the hair back on! Be patient it could take a little while to make it perfect but having a steady hand and moving slowly will pay off in the end. After you do this to both sides stand  behind or steer and look down his back. Does it look even all the way across? It should look almost like an airplane landing strip. On the rear end i would cut like you did the head with about to or three clipper heads off each side of the tail in a box. The tail needs to be fluffed and cut off even with his hocks. The tail should also be trimmed straight up and then spiked at the top even with the tail head. On show day when all the hair on his legs are pulled up with hair spray i would take the clippers and trim any long hairs that are uneven and under his belly and down his sides. The overall goal is to look like a box. There are other types of clipping like slick shearing in which you take down all of the steers hair but this is not normally used on show cattle.

Foot Rot in cattle

Foot rot is a infection cattle can get at any age in there life. It is when there hoof starts decaying and the longer it goes untreated the worse it will be. Steers that are raised for harvest were used in a study. The steers that had foot rot gained 2.3 pounds per day while the steers without the infection gained 2.73 pounds per day. Overall twenty five percent of beef and dairy cattle are affected by foot rot. This infection is cause by a thinning in the skin or cut on the toes of the cow during long periods in wet conditions normally coming in the spring and fall. Some of the signs that will show in the beginning is lameness and some minor swelling around the hoof. Later in the hoof will start to open up in cuts and have a fowl smelling odor.  The cure to the infection is if caught early enough cleaning the infected area and letting the cow rest in an area with no ground water will fix the job, but people with big herds can not see every cow everyday so then veterinarians have prescriptions they can give to the cow along with washing the area. The best way to prevent foot rot is by keeping cattle out of mud, water, and mixtures of there own droppings.

Getting New Members

Making the business grow is all in the hands of the younger generations. We need to get more kids into agriculture programs and activities that promote the business that keeps the world running. There are plenty of good programs for kids to become apart of like FFA, 4-H, the Cattlemen's association, and many others. We need to grow and keep getting people and young kids experiences to see how great our life is.