On Oct. 29, the Steinbrenner FFA wrapped up a successful livestock show at the Hillsborough County Fair. Showing dairy cattle, beef cows, dairy goats, and turkeys, the students worked hard for their success at the high school level, which the Steinbrenner FFA president Stephanie Shimer describes as the toughest level. At this level, many students have their own show breeding stock and invest a lot into their animals.
“We had a lot of first time exhibitors, a lot of animals who have never seen the show ring before, and we still came out with ribbons in every class,” said Shimer. “I know a lot of our members put in a lot of hard work, with grooming and walking their animals, and going out of their way to make sure their animals have the best nutrition. We really put a lot of time and dedication into our animals and the results have really shown.”
Stephanie Shimer, Brooke Rasmussen, Zoe Vogt, and Bailey Vogt showed steer and won three second places and one third place. Caden Merril and Owen Skinner showed heifers, winning one second place, three third places, and one fourth place.
“We definitely had a hard time coordinating our beef cows because we had over ten of them there. It was definitely a challenge to get all of them in, since we had to blow our cows out to make them all fluffy and pretty and we were all showing on the same day. That was something that was tough but we got through it and we made it on time,” said Shimer.
Since this show is one of the biggest dairy shows of the year, both dairy cows, and dairy goats were very important. Abigail Manelli showed her dairy goat Cupid in the recorded grade junior class, which is for goats from six to eighteen months. Overall, Manelli finished second.
“We shaved, we groomed lot since the judges love them groomed, and we clipped their hooves, and gave them baths,” said Manelli.
Steinbrenner’s FFA will be at various local breed shows. Their dairy goats will be shown at American Dairy Goat shows, their beef cows will be shown at Registered Florida Junior Cattlemen Association shows, and their next big show will be the Florida State Fair.
Maeve Campbell // Graphics Dept.
