Here is the update on the great World Dairy Expo 2011 and my grand adventure to Madison, WI.
5 am Friday morning my Father and I left our house to set off for a tour of UW-Madison. At 9:30 we finally found our way out of the parking garage and to the ag. building we were meeting in. Since we were a half hour early for our 10 o'clock tour, my dad decided we should walk around the building. Apparantly 20 feet into our walk we looked lost and one of the profressors there stopped us and asked if he could help us, we looked lost. It turned out the this proffessor was a dairy science prof. (the same area I was looking at at the school) and he told us a little more about the dairy department and took us to meet the head honcho of the dairy department. This was the guy that could give me lots of money was how i was introduced. He later told me that I was "special and diverse" because I was from Minnesota (basically because I talked funny) and interested in dairy science. We finally made it back to the ag. building for our tour. I was on the Madison campus last year for NDC and it didn't seem that big then, but let me tell you, it definitely was this time! When we finished the tour it took us a half hour to find the parking garage. The fact that this campus was so big was almost an immediate deciding factor that made me not want to be a Badger. But, I must commend the Madison prof. that took his time to make sure my dad and I weren't lost, and to help us learn more about my specific area of interest.
Then we moved on the WDE, now we have never gotten there at 1 pm before but we had to park over a half mile away from the grounds. We were lucky enough to get a ride on a trolley on the way in but no way did we get one on the way out! My dad was beside himself! But we still got to see all that the dairy industry has to offer and the newest technology. I even got to see my lovely sister :) Besides being sick and feeling like I was going to die that night, it was a terrific day.
Saturday was the national dairy quiz bowl competition. My team and I were first (out of three) but it was still a national contest so it still makes us sound really good. That took about an hour or so. Then we had to rest of the day to look around while we waited for the supreme champion to be named. This was my idea because I seem to have the knack for show cows while my parents just like cows that make milk. But i was thrilled! Show cows are really my weak point, put me in a barn full of them and i could spend all day admiring these great animals, that are realistically placed on this planet just to look good. (what a life). We saw Eastside Lewisdale Gold Missy from Alberta, Canada be named supreme champion of the 2011 World Dairy Expo, jumped in the car and were in home 4 hours later.
I love world dairy expo!!
I'll update you on my great trip to Indianapolis, Indiana in a few days, it was a terrific trip.
Have a safe and happy halloween!
Friday, October 28, 2011
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
the land of chocolate, cows, and amish
As Grace has begun to continuously nag me about updating the blog I finally will get around to doing it. So here it is, the blog update on my trip to the wonderful state of Pennsylvania and the All-American Dairy Show.
Well if you can recall at the beginning of the September my dairy judging team won a trip to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to the All-American Dairy Show held there. 2 weeks ago me, my 3 teammates, a coach and a teammates dad drove the 16 hours to Pennsylvania. We left friday night at 11:30 and arrived there around 3. That night we travelled to Gettysburg to look at the battlefields. Sunday morning we took 45 minutes to get to a farm that was 6 minutes from our hotel. We judging 3 classes with not enough time to judge them and ate a very nice lunch. That afternoon we travelled to Hershey and toured the chocolate plant. it was a very impressive mechanical tour. We then went to New Holland, which they told us was just a short drive, an hour and a half later we got there. But it was all worth it.
Monday morning, we woke up, ate our poptarts and set out for the judging contest. We ended up judging 10 classes of animals (which is a lot considering the most I've ever judged is six) and gave 4 sets of reasons (also a lot, but I ended up having too much time between sets and overmemorized). We went back to the hotel, watched friends, and were almost late to the awards. We ate a very nice dinner and waited to find out how we did. In the end, I was 1st in ayrshire (only ever judged ayrshires a handful of times in my life), our team was first in ayrshire, 3rd in brown swiss, and 1st in guernsey. Wouldn't you know that the 2 breeds we see the most often we did the worst in. We weren't in the top 5 for holstein or jersey. Individually, I was 5th overall and our team was 5th overall. Pretty good for a national contest. I was satisfied. We left at 5:30 from our hotel and arrived back to our coaches house around 9:30. I was home by 10.
Needless to say it was quite the experience, I definitely don't ever need to go on a van ride with an inconsiderate person who puts their seat back all the way the whole entire trip all 32 hours. It was fun to look at high quality cattle and to get to judge one last time for 4-H this year. Plus!! bonus showcase points next year! :)
It's sad though that I will never be able to judge FFA dairy again because last year I won, even though they didn't announce my name. I feel like i got chipped!! what's up with that?? well, enough of my ranting. Saturday we're in Madison, WI for national dairy quiz bowl. We'll see how that goes, hopefully well but no promises. Happy World Dairy Expo!! :)
Well if you can recall at the beginning of the September my dairy judging team won a trip to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to the All-American Dairy Show held there. 2 weeks ago me, my 3 teammates, a coach and a teammates dad drove the 16 hours to Pennsylvania. We left friday night at 11:30 and arrived there around 3. That night we travelled to Gettysburg to look at the battlefields. Sunday morning we took 45 minutes to get to a farm that was 6 minutes from our hotel. We judging 3 classes with not enough time to judge them and ate a very nice lunch. That afternoon we travelled to Hershey and toured the chocolate plant. it was a very impressive mechanical tour. We then went to New Holland, which they told us was just a short drive, an hour and a half later we got there. But it was all worth it.
Monday morning, we woke up, ate our poptarts and set out for the judging contest. We ended up judging 10 classes of animals (which is a lot considering the most I've ever judged is six) and gave 4 sets of reasons (also a lot, but I ended up having too much time between sets and overmemorized). We went back to the hotel, watched friends, and were almost late to the awards. We ate a very nice dinner and waited to find out how we did. In the end, I was 1st in ayrshire (only ever judged ayrshires a handful of times in my life), our team was first in ayrshire, 3rd in brown swiss, and 1st in guernsey. Wouldn't you know that the 2 breeds we see the most often we did the worst in. We weren't in the top 5 for holstein or jersey. Individually, I was 5th overall and our team was 5th overall. Pretty good for a national contest. I was satisfied. We left at 5:30 from our hotel and arrived back to our coaches house around 9:30. I was home by 10.
Needless to say it was quite the experience, I definitely don't ever need to go on a van ride with an inconsiderate person who puts their seat back all the way the whole entire trip all 32 hours. It was fun to look at high quality cattle and to get to judge one last time for 4-H this year. Plus!! bonus showcase points next year! :)
It's sad though that I will never be able to judge FFA dairy again because last year I won, even though they didn't announce my name. I feel like i got chipped!! what's up with that?? well, enough of my ranting. Saturday we're in Madison, WI for national dairy quiz bowl. We'll see how that goes, hopefully well but no promises. Happy World Dairy Expo!! :)
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Meet the strange looking calves
well, i have quite the dilemma having lost my camera cord (which of course i put in a place that i would never lose it, guess what?) to upload pictures of our newest additions. Chloe and Gloria.
So i guess I will just have to tell you about them and hope I find my cord lately.
Chloe and Gloria are 4 month old Boer goats. This simply means that they are meat goats. They were born around Memorial day and arrived at our house on August 20th. Chloe has a black head and is the smaller of the two, so it's only fitting that she would be my goat. Gloria is way bigger with a brown head, so of course she is grace's. I can't even pick up gloria anymore.
Now, how did you get goats? you may ask. Well, i told my dad that i wanted goats at the beginning of the summer just because I thought it would be fun. He told me to ask the vet. After having that conversation I sorta decided that I didn't really need them because I just wanted to play with them.
Well, we went to my cousin's wedding on August 20th, and we arrived home from the wedding and what were those funny looking things taking up my calf hutch but 2 goats!!
Since we got them, I have tried to walk them at least once every 2 weeks. It basically resulted in Grace and I thinking we were going to kill them so we just picked them up and walked them to the barn to show our mom that we could walk them that far. Grace has since not walked them. I learned that I need to let the goat think that it's in charge when walking her, so I put on her dog collar and leash and stand behind her. She then runs around the hutch trying to get back in with her friend, and of course there's me, super slow and out of shape, chasing after a goat that has ten times more energy than me. I'm sweating by the end of this excercise and the goat just seems very upset with me.
I will continue to see how good I can get them trained and keep you posted. Maybe grace will have to try again.
I have more to update on but for now that's all. Have a terrific week!
So i guess I will just have to tell you about them and hope I find my cord lately.
Chloe and Gloria are 4 month old Boer goats. This simply means that they are meat goats. They were born around Memorial day and arrived at our house on August 20th. Chloe has a black head and is the smaller of the two, so it's only fitting that she would be my goat. Gloria is way bigger with a brown head, so of course she is grace's. I can't even pick up gloria anymore.
Now, how did you get goats? you may ask. Well, i told my dad that i wanted goats at the beginning of the summer just because I thought it would be fun. He told me to ask the vet. After having that conversation I sorta decided that I didn't really need them because I just wanted to play with them.
Well, we went to my cousin's wedding on August 20th, and we arrived home from the wedding and what were those funny looking things taking up my calf hutch but 2 goats!!
Since we got them, I have tried to walk them at least once every 2 weeks. It basically resulted in Grace and I thinking we were going to kill them so we just picked them up and walked them to the barn to show our mom that we could walk them that far. Grace has since not walked them. I learned that I need to let the goat think that it's in charge when walking her, so I put on her dog collar and leash and stand behind her. She then runs around the hutch trying to get back in with her friend, and of course there's me, super slow and out of shape, chasing after a goat that has ten times more energy than me. I'm sweating by the end of this excercise and the goat just seems very upset with me.
I will continue to see how good I can get them trained and keep you posted. Maybe grace will have to try again.
I have more to update on but for now that's all. Have a terrific week!
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
State Fair Review Pt. 2
So I did part 1 review last week so I figure I should do part 2 review this week.
Friday morning at 5 am my father and I loaded up the trailer with 2 heifers and headed to the state fair. We got there at 6:15 and I was done with bedding and washing by 8, just about the same time everyone else in our chapter showed up so I went and helped them unload too. After that, Friday was kinda dull, nothing really happened that was exciting just sat in the barn with some FFA buddies.
Saturday is show day! I got up at 5:30 and get everything washed and bedded and fed. I did showmanship and was 4th in that, I was in 3rd or honorable mention until my heifer decided not to move at just the right moment but what can you do. I usually get kicked out of FFA showmanship so I was just pleased to be in the top 8. I showed both heifers and was 8th out of 16 with my fall calf and 3rd out of 4 with my summer yearling. I watched a beef show, walked around, and went to bed exceptionally early that night at the prime hour of 8:30, pathetic I know (it was worth it though).
Sunday morning is 4-H dairy judging contest. I got up at 5:30 to make myself look half way decent for staying at the state fair the night before while my lovely sister Grace Margaret washed and bedded and took care of my chores for me. (really the only reason I convinced her to chaperone us for FFA weekend). I judged 6 classes and gave 3 sets of reasons. We were done at 12 and went to lunch at Old Country Buffet where I ate WAY too much and went back to the U for results. Now, I was really aiming for top 25 individuals because that's where I usually am and it's a good place to be. They announced 25 through 11 and they still didn't announce me so I figured I musta done pretty bad then. Then they announce that I was 8th place! I was super surprised and excited because that meant that I would probably get to go to Louisville, Kentucky with the top individuals not on a 1st or 2nd place team. Then Maria, my teammate, was announced as 7th place and David as 5th place. Therefore we had to have done pretty well. They announce the top teams and they announced Dakota county as 3rd and with just one more point Rice county was 2nd! Sweet that means we get to go to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in 2 weeks! I suppose I should mention that Steele county was 1st with 4 more points than us.
So, we're heading to Pennsylvania on the 17th of September for the contest on the 19th. Now that I'm only slightly freaked out by the thought of 5 sets of reasons! 5 sets!! Now, I can talk but I can't talk THAT much! we'll see how it goes.
Monday, we didn't do much just watched a fellow chapter member win supreme champion beef and wait for our trailers to get there so we could go home. I got home, did chores, and went to bed to prepare to be at school at 7 am because I think I should be involved in school! bad idea!
that's all i've got for now, I tell you more about harrisburg in a couple weeks along with our new additions chloe and gloria when I find time.
Friday morning at 5 am my father and I loaded up the trailer with 2 heifers and headed to the state fair. We got there at 6:15 and I was done with bedding and washing by 8, just about the same time everyone else in our chapter showed up so I went and helped them unload too. After that, Friday was kinda dull, nothing really happened that was exciting just sat in the barn with some FFA buddies.
Saturday is show day! I got up at 5:30 and get everything washed and bedded and fed. I did showmanship and was 4th in that, I was in 3rd or honorable mention until my heifer decided not to move at just the right moment but what can you do. I usually get kicked out of FFA showmanship so I was just pleased to be in the top 8. I showed both heifers and was 8th out of 16 with my fall calf and 3rd out of 4 with my summer yearling. I watched a beef show, walked around, and went to bed exceptionally early that night at the prime hour of 8:30, pathetic I know (it was worth it though).
Sunday morning is 4-H dairy judging contest. I got up at 5:30 to make myself look half way decent for staying at the state fair the night before while my lovely sister Grace Margaret washed and bedded and took care of my chores for me. (really the only reason I convinced her to chaperone us for FFA weekend). I judged 6 classes and gave 3 sets of reasons. We were done at 12 and went to lunch at Old Country Buffet where I ate WAY too much and went back to the U for results. Now, I was really aiming for top 25 individuals because that's where I usually am and it's a good place to be. They announced 25 through 11 and they still didn't announce me so I figured I musta done pretty bad then. Then they announce that I was 8th place! I was super surprised and excited because that meant that I would probably get to go to Louisville, Kentucky with the top individuals not on a 1st or 2nd place team. Then Maria, my teammate, was announced as 7th place and David as 5th place. Therefore we had to have done pretty well. They announce the top teams and they announced Dakota county as 3rd and with just one more point Rice county was 2nd! Sweet that means we get to go to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in 2 weeks! I suppose I should mention that Steele county was 1st with 4 more points than us.
So, we're heading to Pennsylvania on the 17th of September for the contest on the 19th. Now that I'm only slightly freaked out by the thought of 5 sets of reasons! 5 sets!! Now, I can talk but I can't talk THAT much! we'll see how it goes.
Monday, we didn't do much just watched a fellow chapter member win supreme champion beef and wait for our trailers to get there so we could go home. I got home, did chores, and went to bed to prepare to be at school at 7 am because I think I should be involved in school! bad idea!
that's all i've got for now, I tell you more about harrisburg in a couple weeks along with our new additions chloe and gloria when I find time.
Monday, August 29, 2011
state fair review part 1
well, it's been a while since i actually posted anything on here so here goes state fair review part 1.
Wednesday: we load up animals and head to the state fair. wash cattle and get things settled in. i watched princess kay of the milky way coronation which is the dairy princess for the whole state of minnesota. and that was about it.
Thursday: got up and did chores once again. I then proceeded to sit in the same spot from 9 until 12 picking up manure from behind the cows for herdsmanship. i know, sounds like great fun. then of course me being me i had to socialize with all my friends from beef and dairy.
Friday much of the same thing between herdsmanship from 9 to 11 and many other things. I had a workshop interview called fun with dairy foods where we made butter and ice cream. Then i had to take a test with 20 questions on it. I got 15 of them right which from what i've heard is one of the higher scores. I went back to the barns and found out that I was a finalist for the interviews which means I had to go to another group interview. While at this one, me and about 8 other kids sat in a circle and discussed issues currently affecting the dairy industry. It was very interesting to hear other people's opinions. I found out that I wasn't an interview winner but I did get a free polo out of the deal, one which i will never wear and that can hang in the closet next to the other 5 i have. I then watched the beef show and a kid from our county recieve reserve champion cow/calf pair. (i showed that cow at the county fair so it was definitely me that helped him win at state fair). Friday night was kind of boring after that. I did manage to actually walk up to the 4-H building which I don't think i've done for 2years and that was only because i was sleeping up there. It's quite the hike and exactly what i remember.
Saturday: show time! after i slept in a half hour after my alarm i go downstairs to find out that so have the boys and it's ok that i'm only a half hour late since they didn't get there until 6:15 and i was there at 5:30. We washed and bedded and then waited for their hair to dry so that we could do their toplines. My lovely sister grace helped me with mine and i might add that it looked extra good. I got in the show ring and was pulled into 2nd. Then we did a few more laps and i was pulled into first. This is exciting since there were 17 animals in the class and i was definitely just hoping for a blue since i had seen quite a few animals that I liked better than mine. But hey! who's to complain when you're heifer is first out of 17 and wins the class. not me! :) Then I had to go back into the ring for junior champ. which is just the champion of all the calves and heifers that aren't cows. I wasn't pulled out for that but that's alright because I was still really happy with 1st in my class. Then I had to do net merit, which i was excited about because grace or i have every plaque for this section from the time she started showing until now. Well, I did win again and the judge really liked my heifer once again. and reserver champion went to another kid in our county who i just happened to beat last year and he was all about how it was deja vu. Then came showmanship. I was really hoping to be a finalist in that as well but as it turns out my heifer didn't look relaxed in the ring. (whatever that means, what animals looks relaxed when you have a rope tied to their face and walk them around?)
After the show I stood in line to eat cookies for probably 20 minutes and had a few australian potatoes with my favorite national dairy conference people. We had to check the list for dairy showcase and there was my name for top 10! i was really excited since that meant that i got to get my heifer all looking good again and I only been in the top 25 before.
Now saturday night our plan was not to go to bed until like 4 in the morning because the herdsmen from every county don't have a curfew jsut have to check in every hour to say that they're there. So we made until like 2 because the lady checking us in told us that 'you should go to bed since you've had a long day.' this made me a little angry but i obliged.
Sunday: I do chores and get myself ready for the showcase. We get over there and i'm eating my cookies and milk and talking with my favorite people once again. They announce the top 25 through 11 and i'm thinking okay, i'll be number 10 so get ready. Well it turns out I wasn't 10, 9, 8, 7, or 6. They lined the remaining 5 up and I am number 5. Which doesn't really sound very exciting but this is a big deal for me! I ended up making $1,000 for the efforts I put into showing dairy and quiz bowl and judging. Thanks to sysco, MN Farm Bureau, and MN Soybean growers for sponsoring that amount of money. I'm still working on figuring out what I shall do with it. Probably save it for college. Animals were released at 3 and we didn't end up getting out of the state fair grounds until 6:15. But oh well, i like to soak it all in until next year. Oh wait, i'm going back for ffa next weekend. Stop by the cattle barns for a visit if you're there!
Wednesday: we load up animals and head to the state fair. wash cattle and get things settled in. i watched princess kay of the milky way coronation which is the dairy princess for the whole state of minnesota. and that was about it.
Thursday: got up and did chores once again. I then proceeded to sit in the same spot from 9 until 12 picking up manure from behind the cows for herdsmanship. i know, sounds like great fun. then of course me being me i had to socialize with all my friends from beef and dairy.
Friday much of the same thing between herdsmanship from 9 to 11 and many other things. I had a workshop interview called fun with dairy foods where we made butter and ice cream. Then i had to take a test with 20 questions on it. I got 15 of them right which from what i've heard is one of the higher scores. I went back to the barns and found out that I was a finalist for the interviews which means I had to go to another group interview. While at this one, me and about 8 other kids sat in a circle and discussed issues currently affecting the dairy industry. It was very interesting to hear other people's opinions. I found out that I wasn't an interview winner but I did get a free polo out of the deal, one which i will never wear and that can hang in the closet next to the other 5 i have. I then watched the beef show and a kid from our county recieve reserve champion cow/calf pair. (i showed that cow at the county fair so it was definitely me that helped him win at state fair). Friday night was kind of boring after that. I did manage to actually walk up to the 4-H building which I don't think i've done for 2years and that was only because i was sleeping up there. It's quite the hike and exactly what i remember.
Saturday: show time! after i slept in a half hour after my alarm i go downstairs to find out that so have the boys and it's ok that i'm only a half hour late since they didn't get there until 6:15 and i was there at 5:30. We washed and bedded and then waited for their hair to dry so that we could do their toplines. My lovely sister grace helped me with mine and i might add that it looked extra good. I got in the show ring and was pulled into 2nd. Then we did a few more laps and i was pulled into first. This is exciting since there were 17 animals in the class and i was definitely just hoping for a blue since i had seen quite a few animals that I liked better than mine. But hey! who's to complain when you're heifer is first out of 17 and wins the class. not me! :) Then I had to go back into the ring for junior champ. which is just the champion of all the calves and heifers that aren't cows. I wasn't pulled out for that but that's alright because I was still really happy with 1st in my class. Then I had to do net merit, which i was excited about because grace or i have every plaque for this section from the time she started showing until now. Well, I did win again and the judge really liked my heifer once again. and reserver champion went to another kid in our county who i just happened to beat last year and he was all about how it was deja vu. Then came showmanship. I was really hoping to be a finalist in that as well but as it turns out my heifer didn't look relaxed in the ring. (whatever that means, what animals looks relaxed when you have a rope tied to their face and walk them around?)
After the show I stood in line to eat cookies for probably 20 minutes and had a few australian potatoes with my favorite national dairy conference people. We had to check the list for dairy showcase and there was my name for top 10! i was really excited since that meant that i got to get my heifer all looking good again and I only been in the top 25 before.
Now saturday night our plan was not to go to bed until like 4 in the morning because the herdsmen from every county don't have a curfew jsut have to check in every hour to say that they're there. So we made until like 2 because the lady checking us in told us that 'you should go to bed since you've had a long day.' this made me a little angry but i obliged.
Sunday: I do chores and get myself ready for the showcase. We get over there and i'm eating my cookies and milk and talking with my favorite people once again. They announce the top 25 through 11 and i'm thinking okay, i'll be number 10 so get ready. Well it turns out I wasn't 10, 9, 8, 7, or 6. They lined the remaining 5 up and I am number 5. Which doesn't really sound very exciting but this is a big deal for me! I ended up making $1,000 for the efforts I put into showing dairy and quiz bowl and judging. Thanks to sysco, MN Farm Bureau, and MN Soybean growers for sponsoring that amount of money. I'm still working on figuring out what I shall do with it. Probably save it for college. Animals were released at 3 and we didn't end up getting out of the state fair grounds until 6:15. But oh well, i like to soak it all in until next year. Oh wait, i'm going back for ffa next weekend. Stop by the cattle barns for a visit if you're there!
Monday, July 25, 2011
one for the record books
the rice 2011 county fair had to be the hottest and most humid fair on record in all of it's 100 and some years that it has been around.
We brought animals in at 8:45 to try to avoid it getting any hotter while they had to be on the trailer. I got them washed, fed and settled in by 11. I had a beef and dairy interview to go to and then worked in the food stand for an hour. Beef weigh-in was at 4 and get this! my dairy steer weighed 1500 pounds!! and they claim that the scale was light! that's a big boy! he gained an average of 3.5 pounds a day since february til now. I tried to keep them cool by spraying them down and watering every hour.
Wednesday morning was the open class youth dairy show. I was 7th with my fall calf, 1st with my summer yearling and reserve champion overall cow. Pretty good for a show on such a hot day. Wednesday afternoon was the 4-H beef show, i did work up the courage to show another cow/calf pair only this time i took the cow. I made it out of the ring with no mishaps. The Purfeersts even asked me to show one of their cow/calf pairs with their nephew kyle, and it didn't even do anything wrong. I got 3rd out of 5 with my dairy steer.
Thursday morning was the 4-H dairy show. I got reserve champion showmanship and 1st in all my classes. A turn around from the day before though with my fall calf going from 7th to 1st and my cow didn't make it back for state fair line up. My summer jr. yearling was reserve champion yearling and 6th in state fair line up. I will be taking her to the state fair after some much needed weight loss.
Friday morning was the FFA beef show, very few people came because of the heat. I was even first with my dairy steer (out of 1) which never happens because the Otte's usually clean house there, but unfortunately they couldn't make it. Friday night I was graced with the presence of 2 of my people in the whole wide world. Annie and Devin! We watched Annie's show then were walking around the fair and all of a sudden Devin is freaking out about losing her phone. After looking we decide it's a lost cause and she'll jsut have to find a new phone to use. We go home facebook creep and we get a call from kailey who informs us that some people called her off of devin's phone and say that they have devin's phone. After much conversation about meeting at the zipper to get the phone of going to their house in burnsville we finally make a plan to get the phone. I got it saturday night after a little sketchy thing. We finally went to bed at 2 am. bad choice.
Saturday morning we got up at 5:30 to get to the fair to get chores done before working on the clover for the auction. I went to breakfast and the auction and nothing productive happened after that for the day besides a nice nap.
Sunday I did chores and visited with people, ate my last pork burger :( and sat around for the whole day basically.
While at the fair I met new people, learned more about old friends and attempted to learn how to judge general livestock. Now let me tell you, this was a whole completely different concept than dairy judging. Mark did an all right job explaining it in the beef cattle but the second derek started explaining sheep to me my brain was fried. We'll how I progress as the summer goes on.
That's basically all I have on the fair for this year. It was an awesome time and only 365 until next years (it's a leap year next year).
Hope everyone kept cool and is having a good summer!
We brought animals in at 8:45 to try to avoid it getting any hotter while they had to be on the trailer. I got them washed, fed and settled in by 11. I had a beef and dairy interview to go to and then worked in the food stand for an hour. Beef weigh-in was at 4 and get this! my dairy steer weighed 1500 pounds!! and they claim that the scale was light! that's a big boy! he gained an average of 3.5 pounds a day since february til now. I tried to keep them cool by spraying them down and watering every hour.
Wednesday morning was the open class youth dairy show. I was 7th with my fall calf, 1st with my summer yearling and reserve champion overall cow. Pretty good for a show on such a hot day. Wednesday afternoon was the 4-H beef show, i did work up the courage to show another cow/calf pair only this time i took the cow. I made it out of the ring with no mishaps. The Purfeersts even asked me to show one of their cow/calf pairs with their nephew kyle, and it didn't even do anything wrong. I got 3rd out of 5 with my dairy steer.
Thursday morning was the 4-H dairy show. I got reserve champion showmanship and 1st in all my classes. A turn around from the day before though with my fall calf going from 7th to 1st and my cow didn't make it back for state fair line up. My summer jr. yearling was reserve champion yearling and 6th in state fair line up. I will be taking her to the state fair after some much needed weight loss.
Friday morning was the FFA beef show, very few people came because of the heat. I was even first with my dairy steer (out of 1) which never happens because the Otte's usually clean house there, but unfortunately they couldn't make it. Friday night I was graced with the presence of 2 of my people in the whole wide world. Annie and Devin! We watched Annie's show then were walking around the fair and all of a sudden Devin is freaking out about losing her phone. After looking we decide it's a lost cause and she'll jsut have to find a new phone to use. We go home facebook creep and we get a call from kailey who informs us that some people called her off of devin's phone and say that they have devin's phone. After much conversation about meeting at the zipper to get the phone of going to their house in burnsville we finally make a plan to get the phone. I got it saturday night after a little sketchy thing. We finally went to bed at 2 am. bad choice.
Saturday morning we got up at 5:30 to get to the fair to get chores done before working on the clover for the auction. I went to breakfast and the auction and nothing productive happened after that for the day besides a nice nap.
Sunday I did chores and visited with people, ate my last pork burger :( and sat around for the whole day basically.
While at the fair I met new people, learned more about old friends and attempted to learn how to judge general livestock. Now let me tell you, this was a whole completely different concept than dairy judging. Mark did an all right job explaining it in the beef cattle but the second derek started explaining sheep to me my brain was fried. We'll how I progress as the summer goes on.
That's basically all I have on the fair for this year. It was an awesome time and only 365 until next years (it's a leap year next year).
Hope everyone kept cool and is having a good summer!
Sunday, July 17, 2011
it's here, it's here, it's here!
So in case you haven't guessed what I'm talking about yet it's the Rice County Fair!! Tomorrow begins general project judging and tuesday animals go in and the fun begins!
So in case anyone wanted to visit me here's my schedule:
Wednesday morning is the open class dairy show at 9.
Wednesday afternoon is 4-H beef show starting around 2 (this will be very interesting considering what happened last year and my steer is crazier than ever this year).
Thursday morning is the 4-H dairy show (let's hope I can get a state fair trip)
Friday morning is FFA beef show at 10. (i'll probably lose to the otte's anyways so that probably won't be worth watching)
Friday night I fully plan on watching the open class beef show with the one and only DEVIN COOPER!! :)
Saturday morning is the auction.
After that I am fully available. Until the ever embarrassing fashion revue. (I won't tell you when that is cause it's embarrassing and just plain awful).
Hope to see everyone there! Unless of course I die of heat exhausting. (this is actually a possibility if you know me at all.)
So in case anyone wanted to visit me here's my schedule:
Wednesday morning is the open class dairy show at 9.
Wednesday afternoon is 4-H beef show starting around 2 (this will be very interesting considering what happened last year and my steer is crazier than ever this year).
Thursday morning is the 4-H dairy show (let's hope I can get a state fair trip)
Friday morning is FFA beef show at 10. (i'll probably lose to the otte's anyways so that probably won't be worth watching)
Friday night I fully plan on watching the open class beef show with the one and only DEVIN COOPER!! :)
Saturday morning is the auction.
After that I am fully available. Until the ever embarrassing fashion revue. (I won't tell you when that is cause it's embarrassing and just plain awful).
Hope to see everyone there! Unless of course I die of heat exhausting. (this is actually a possibility if you know me at all.)
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