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Cow Days

Corbin Hurley was drafted to show his brother Caden's cow at fair after Caden broke his leg earlier this summer. (Photo: Jen Kocher)

Corbin Hurley was drafted to show his brother Caden's cow at the Campbell County Fair this year after Caden broke his leg earlier this summer. (Photo: Jen Kocher)

Cassidy Hurley and 10-year-old friend Marilee Deegan fired up the hairdryer to give Deegan’s cow Penelope a final fluffing. Around them, cows mooed from behind their gates in the barns on the far northwest corner of Cam-Plex where the first Supreme Cow Contest was about to get underway under a hazy early morning sun Monday.

Wielding a hose from what looked a lot like a mini-vacuum cleaner, Deegan blew the Black Angus’ hair straight up as Hurley followed behind with a brush that would likely double for buffing wax on a car. The competition was about 10 minutes out as the two scrambled to get their cows ready.

Cassidy Hurley helps pal Marilee Deegan get heifer Pennelope beautified for the Supreme Cow Contest Monday morning. (Photo: Jen Kocher)
Cassidy Hurley helps pal Marilee Deegan get heifer Pennelope beautified for the Supreme Cow Contest Monday morning. (Photo: Jen Kocher)

Hurley’s older brother, 13-year-old Cooper, waited patiently for his sister to get her cow, Pearl, reined and ready. He’s competing many times, he said, and wasn’t nervous. Cassidy, meanwhile, was going before the judges for the first time and admitted she was full of nerves as she and her mother Cassandra fit the rein and rope over Pearl’s head.

The Hurley kids, including their youngest brother Corbin who was a last-minute stand in for his older brother Caden who earlier this summer broke his leg when an ATV ran over it, had been working with their cows for the past several months in preparation of the contest this morning. Cassidy got Pearl in November when she was still around 500 pounds, and today estimated she was over 1,100.

The first phase of this contest required getting their cows weighed and undergoing an ultrasound to ensure they were pregnant. Along with looking clean and groomed, a major aspect of the contest was to prove that their cows were also good breeders with stocky hips and girth.

Corbin Hurley and older brother Cooper get ready to have their cows weighed and ultrasound tested Monday morning at the Campbell County Fair. (Photo: Jen Kocher)
Corbin Hurley and older brother Cooper get ready to have their cows weighed and ultrasound tested Monday morning at the Campbell County Fair. (Photo: Jen Kocher)

The Hurley kids were confident that they were going into the contest with some winners as they made their way to the barn for the first leg of the competition. Snot poured from the cow’s nostrils as they waited for their turn to enter the barn, which is par for course, Cassidy said.

“They’re just kind of snotty,” she quipped with a grin.

Inside, Fair Board President Acacia Acord and Campbell County 4-H Instructor Kim Fry sat at a table behind a massive scale as Corbin deftly closed the back gate behind his cow and she stepped into the stall to get weighed, logging in at a hefty 1,128 pounds.

This is by far her favorite of all the competitions at the fair, Acord explained, because there’s nothing fancy about it nor does it rely on pedigree.

“They’re all range cows,” she said, “and they’re learning what it takes to be a good rancher.”

The 4-H and FFA competitors have worked hard to get to this point, Supreme Cow Contest Superintendent Shellie Hensley said, explaining there are two separate contests including phase one and phase two for cow and calf pairs. What the judges are looking for, she explained, are the most efficient and fit breeding heifers. This means they’re looking for heft and verification that the cow is pregnant.

Along with tending to their care from a young age, the kids have also spent countless hours working with their heifers on showmanship skills, so they can lead the cow into the ring and stand with one foot in front of the other before the judges while being prepared to answer a host of questions about physiology and care.

The competitors also must keep meticulous daily records as part of the competition. Along with raising the cow from a young age, they must log costs including how much they eat, whether they’ve grazed on pasture and other expenses right down to the $10 brush purchased to groom them.

The logbooks also bring home a lesson about the economics of being a rancher Cassidy learns as she makes her final entries about profit and costs. Assuming she can sell her cow at current market prices of $1.85 per pound, after she deducts expenses, she’s looking at a profit of about $342 for her cow.

This is about right, Cassandra acknowledges regarding her family’s cattle operation, which begs another hard lesson to be learned.

When asked what his biggest concern is about the future of the ranching industry, oldest brother Caden said it’s about the rancher’s slim profit. Given the relatively high cost of beef in the supermarkets, it’s clear that the consumers also aren’t reaping the benefit, he noted, but rather the profit is being pocketed by the middleman somewhere on the supply chain, which likely stems from the bottleneck of limited processors.

This year was also a bit tough, Cassandra noted, given the high price of hay caused by the extreme drought as well as a flooding of beef in the marketplace.

Despite the drawbacks, however, the Hurley kids aren’t dismayed by limited profits in a long legacy of cattle producers where the hard work and long hours are just part of the process as they get ready to enter the ring to show the judges how much they have learned.

“It’s fun,” Cassidy said, admitting that she felt less nervous now than she did an hour ago before the contest began as she looks for her friend Marilee to see if she needs any help getting her heifer ready.

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