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Families continue tradition of showing animals

Young people get to learn more than livestock care when working with show animals. 

Thirteen-year-old Bella Kuchler from Union Grove is in her first year of showing beef animals and tells Brownfield it’s been a lot of work. “It took very long to get him how he looks now. We had to wash him every day. I wake up about 5:30 in the morning to do him, and yeah, that’s how he looks pretty good.” Bella’s mom Jenna says she couldn’t be prouder. “She worked on him every day since May. She actually had another steer, so she worked on two steers every day, multiple times a day, gets up early, and stays up late. It’s a big project and I’m very proud of her.”

For 19-year-old Kelsey Henderson from Kenosha County, it’s her last year of showing at the fair but she plans to help mentor her younger sister and others. “It’s awesome to see little 10, 11, and 12-year-olds out there working hard and you know, we all used to be in those shoes once.” And Henderson says she had a great finish to her showing career. “I was fortunate enough to show the champion Semmentol steer and also the reserve Chianina steer.”

Henderson is currently studying agricultural business at Iowa State University.  Kuchlar is already thinking about next year’s show season.