Exhibitors in the Bartholomew County 4-H Fair beef competition showcased months of work in the show ring, hoping for a grand champion banner.
Seventy 4-Hers exhibited 79 beef entries Thursday in categories including beef heifers, starter calves, dairy steers and beef steers.
Brad Paetzel, a 10-year 4-H member from Hope, took grand champion honors in the beef steer category, while Emily Hoene took the title for grand champion county-born-and-raised beef steer.
Paetzel was elated to get the nod for grand champion steer for the second year in a row, particularly because it’s his final 4-H fair as an exhibitor.
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“It was kind of mind-blowing,” Paetzel said. “All of the hard work and all those hours spent finally paid off.”
Paetzel’s champion steer, a 1,343-pound Chianina purchased from a friend in the New Castle area, will be sold at this morning’s fair auction, he said.
In 2017, he swept two top beef steer categories, showing both the grand champion steer and the county-born and -bred steer grand champion.
Paetzel plans to attend Purdue University in West Lafayette this fall to major in ag sales, in the hopes of one day owning and operating his own cattle farm.
Other family members also had a reason to celebrate Thursday.
Nichole Paetzel, who will be a junior this fall at Hauser High School, was grand champion in beef showmanship.
Before the fair season concludes, the Paetzel family will be taking several heifers to compete at the Indiana State Fair.
Up for the task
Rockcreek Elementary School fifth grader Colton Jordan was among the competitors as he led his 1,200-pound beef heifer around the show ring Thursday afternoon.
Judge Andon Boocher didn’t choose Jordan’s entry for the top prize. But Boocher said he was impressed with the way 10-year-old Colton kept command of the Simmental heifer in the show ring.
When asked how he keeps an animal so much larger than himself in line, Colton said the two have developed mutual respect for each other that only comes from feeding, brushing and walking the animal regularly.
“I’ve been working with her since last year,” Jordan said. “She just listens to me.”
Strong relationships between exhibitors and their cattle are far more important than size, said 16-year-old Luke Harker, who won grand champion beef heifer at the show.
“You built a trust-bond, and once you’ve created it, there’s no breaking it,” said the incoming Hauser High School junior.
Some of the beef entries will be among 265 animals set to be auctioned during the 4-H Livestock sale at the fairgrounds Pavilion starting at 8:15 a.m.
The auction is a chance for 4-Hers to earn money toward their future from their livestock project, the culmination of months of hard work raising and preparing the animals for the fair.
As it was last year, a number of beef competition classes only had one entry. Show organizers say that reflects the high cost of feeding and raising cattle until they reach market weight, which takes longer than other livestock exhibited at the fair.
But since there are fewer 4-H members exhibiting cattle, they tend to become more of a tight-knit group and form deeper connections with their animals, beef show coordinator Shelby Case said.
Breeding heifers is a profitable enterprise, so Jordan said he’s not under any pressure to sell the animal after the fair is over.
“But 90 percent of the steers will be sold this weekend,” Case said. “It’s tough on those kids with steers, but they know why they are here. They understand they are producing food or other products for the world.”
Between showing his Angus heifer and his Angus steer, Braden Young, who will be a freshman at Hauser this fall, said there’s a difference between the cattle and swine shows.
“Cattle can be a little more touchy,” the 15-year-old Young said. “But you have to work with cattle more than swine, and put more hours into training. You get more attached, and want to take care of them more than you do the pigs.”
When the animals are sold, exhibitors often receive enough money to both invest in another animal to show next year and make a deposit into a college fund, Case said.
Five-year exhibitor Brady McNealy had four entries in the beef show Thursday, picking up an award for Angus reserve champion heifer and a champion entry in beef steers.
The 13-year-old Hauser student says it takes a lot of dedication and effort to raise three heifers and one crossbred steer at the same time.
“You have to watch their rations, buy a lot of different feeds, and wash them all the time,” said McNealy, who will enter eighth grade next month. “It really has been a lot of work.”
Assistant managing editor Julie McClure contributed to this report.
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Today
7:30 a.m.: Livestock Auction Buyers Breakfast, Pavilion
8:15 a.m.: 4-H Livestock Sale, Pavilion
5–9 p.m.: 4-H Community Building, Family Arts, and Commercial Buildings open
5 p.m.: Midway Opens, $23 wristbands until close
7 p.m.: Demolition Derby, Grandstand
7 p.m.: Blacksmithing Demonstration, Heritage Building
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Beef Heifers
Grand champion: Luke Harker
Reserve grand champion: Nichole Paetzel
Grand champion county-born-and-raised: Nichole Paetzel
Reserve grand champion county-born and -raised: Jake O’Connor
Dairy Starter Calf
Grand champion: Betsy Hoene
Reserve grand champion: Drew Schiefer
Dairy Steer
Grand champion: Drew Schiefer
Reserve grand champion: Betsy Hoene
Grand champion county-born and -raised: Josie Smith
Reserve grand champion county-born and -raised: Brock Burbrink
Beef Steers
Grand champion: Brad Paetzel
Reserve grand champion: Haley Embry
Grand champion county-born and -raised: Emily Hoene
Reserve grand champion county-born and -raised: Brady McNealy
Showmanship
Grand champion: Nichole Paetzel
Reserve grand champion: Haley Embry
Dairy
Grand champion: Josie Burbrink
Reserve grand champion: Libby Otte
Dairy showmanship
Grand champion: Josie Burbrink
Reserve grand champion: Madelyn Beyer
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Photo highlights from early days of 4-H Fair. Page A5.
Latest fair results. Page A6.
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