Summer is coming to an end, and with that is back to school and picking out your next 4H and FFA project animal. To have success in the show ring and earn that purple ribbon everyone aims for, many early mornings and late nights are ahead. It starts with selecting a quality calf and maintaining nutrition, health and daily care. Beef project animals are a huge time commitment and investment, that are usually 10-11 months long.
Here are a few tips to keep in mind when selecting your beef project animal-
Age of Animal:
When selecting your project animal, keep in mind the time of your fair. Exhibiting in an earlier spring fair, you would want to select an earlier born calf say December or January that weighs more. Exhibiting in a late summer fair, you would want to select a calf that is born in February or March. Choosing a calf that will be 14 to 18 months old and that is market ready at the time of your fair will help your animal grade better. Keep in mind that cattle gain 2 to 3 pounds of weight per day, but this can vary on feed and genetics.
Division:
Most county terminal shows are divided by the final weight of your market animal. Judges are looking for a market animal that is the complete package in terms of style, muscle, balance, and that is market ready. Some fairs break the weights into 3 divisions consisting of light-weight, middle-weight, and heavy-weight. Light-weight steers are anywhere from 1,050lbs-1,199lbs and are stockier, smaller framed animals. Most steers that are market ready and fit the complete package for judges come from middle-weight classes. These steers weight from 1200-1300lbs. Heavy-weight steers are from 1300lbs +. These are larger framed animals and need more feed and time to be market ready.
Characteristics to look for:
It can be overwhelming to go to a club calf sale and walk the isles of potential project animals, or to go to a field and pick one out. To help with this process, think of characteristics that make up a complete market animal- Heavy muscled, structurally correct, well balanced and show ring attractive. Keeping these in mind, try and select the animal that checks the most boxes-
• Straight, wide back with muscle along the loin
• Deep bodied with smooth shoulders and clean neck/chest
• Wide through the quarters from stifle to stifle
• Ability to travel with ease
Once you have selected your project animal, now comes the hard work! Keep in mind that having a quality calf might be the main piece to the puzzle, but how you feed and the health of the animal must be consistent. Start to finish, you must put in time to get the desired result of a market ready animal.
