ALEXANDRIA — Cows took over the Madison County 4-H Fair Tuesday for the annual beef show.

The show arena at the fairgrounds rang with the sound of cattle calls as young 4-H members walked, or dragged, their potential prize-winning cattle across the mulch-strewn floor.

Matt Hueber, the judge, watched as contestants paraded past and ranked cattle in each round, finally choosing the best of all categories as the overall champion.

“You look for different qualities in the heifers and steers,” Hueber said. “For heifers, the biggest thing is structural soundness, femininity, and just being able to get around the ring with ease. I look more for power in the steers.”

According to Hueber, Madison County has one of the best 4-H fairs around.

“It’s very high quality, something that doesn’t happen in most county fairs,” he said. “It makes it a lot easier to judge, and it makes the competition a lot more fun.”

Autumn Brown won the heifer portion of this year’s beef show, despite some very heated competition. Her hard work put her over the top though.

“You have to rinse them and blow dry them three times a day,” Brown said. “So I basically live in the barn.”

Brown, who lives with her family on a farm on Indiana 9, competed in the swine, goats, and sheep shows in addition to the beef show. This was not her first year at the county 4-H fair though.

“This is my eighth official year in 4-H, but I’ve been showing lambs since I was 3 years old,” she said.

Her winning heifer was a 1,018-pound Chianina, although she had two other heifers in the competition.

“It feels great to work this hard and have it pay off in the end,” she said.

Hard work was a theme for all of the competitors at Tuesday’s show. Hours spent in the barn transitioned into ribbons for the best.

“The majority of my day goes into the heifer,” said Mitchell Smith. “I get about four hours of free time after working with the cattle, but I usually spend it in the barn anyway.”

Smith won the reserve grand champion award for his shorthorn heifer.

“He probably works on his cattle project four to six hours a day,” said Jennifer Smith, Mitchell’s mother. “He shows all over the country.”

Mitchell has been to shows in Louisville, Illinois, Michigan and even as far away as South Dakota and Oklahoma to show his prize-winning shorthorn heifers. He has also finished in the top five at the junior national competition.

“I want to own a big ranch out West someday, but now I have to get ready for the state fair,” he said.

For judge Hueber, all the contestants’ hard work shows when he watches the kids handling their cattle, and knows they have done their very best.

“To get cattle ready for this final drive it takes full commitment,” he said. “It takes a lot of late nights, and a lot of early mornings.”



Beef Show Champions

Heifers

- Grand Champion: Autumn Brown, Chianina breed

- Reserve Grand Champion: Mitchell Smith, Shorthorn breed

Steers

- Grand Champion: Kaleb Tatman, Cross bred

- Reserve Grand Champion: Mackenzie McCarty, county raised