There are three things that can bring you to the winner’s backdrop at a show. Here are five steps to a great fill and a blue ribbon.

In late summer of 2021, Hannah Loftin, an up-and-coming fitter and showman from North Carolina, turned to Facebook to ask if anyone had an animal she could fit in the World Dairy Expo fitting contest.

As a keen showmanship class heats up, it is common for judges to “break the tie” by asking a question. As we have mentioned in previous articles, these questions should not be open-ended such as “tell me about your heifer,” but specific questions that require a well-thought-out answer.

As we look to a new year, whether you are just beginning a show season or just ending one, it’s a great time to look ahead to 2022 and what you would like to achieve.

It was Friday, August 11, 1989. My 13-year-old self, dressed in jeans and a tight-fitting yellow polo shirt, sat restlessly on the bleachers of the livestock arena during our county Farm Show awards ceremony.

Every year we see the pictures at the end of summer: kids hugging a 4-H or FFA project animal with tears streaming down their cheeks.

In rural western New York, just south of Buffalo, Isaac Folts rises each day before school to head out to the barn to do chores. Unlike most youth, Isaac, who is 15, heads out to his own barn.

Finding a sense of normalcy is a sought-after concept as events are canceled or modified to adhere to the restrictions and guidelines brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“When you’re a farm family, you become family with every other farm family.” These emotional words were spoken by Melissa Briel, just two short months after the tragic passing of her husband, Dan, and 14-year-old son, David, in a silo accident at their farm in Wisconsin.