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Thumb of Michigan | My local fair has a ribbon for what's called a 'Home Grown'. The critter has to be from parent/grandparent's cow, born and raised on the farm where the cow resides. Each year, there is less and less HG entries. Even my granddaughter got caught up in the nonsense of having a 'prettier' critter in order to win the other 'more important' ribbons (mostly no thanks to her parents). Her older brother won the Home-Grown category one year AND had the reserve grand champion, from what I call grandpa's feedlot finest. Problem her brother had was it was an off white (Charolais influenced) instead of a black critter.
The number of critters overall, has slipped, but I contribute some of that to the chasing of the top place no matter what the cost of 'club calf' might be. A lot of kids end up 'losing money', because of the club calf market and what the sale price of the steer/heifer brings at the sale. Same as hogs, I've heard of kids buying a 5 weight at over $5K and a pig at over $500. And this was BEFORE fat cattle went over $2 a pound.
BTW, granddaughter has learned the err in her ways, expensive as it may have been. | |
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cow/calf thoughts
