Bagnell and Brown
Cousins raise steers that are cousins, show livestock at the Lake County Fair
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On the afternoon before the market steer show at the Lake County Fair, the wash rack behind the livestock barns was a popular place. Steers needed to be cleaned up and fitted so they’d look their best.
Lexi Bagnell, Saddle Mountain 4-H Club, and her cousin Deondra Brown, Ninepipe Explorers 4-H Club, were a couple of the hard-working kids washing their steers. Bagnell’s steer’s name is Stevo, and Brown’s steer’s name is Fi Dee (pronounced fiddee), after the rapper 50 Cent.
The young women bought their steers from Mark Passmore in Kalispell.
“They (the steers) are cousins, and we’re cousins,” Bagnell explained.
The girls fared well at the steer show with both steers in the top four in their class. In fact, Brown’s steer was chosen grand champion over all the market steers.
“I was surprised and glad to win,” Brown said.
Thursday, Aug. 5, found the girls back at the wash rack in the afternoon. The market sale was Thursday evening so the steers were getting a bath and some serious brushing so they’d look their best.
In the heavyweight class, Fi Dee weighed in at 1,305 pounds and sold for $4.35 per pound to Les Schwab. Stevo, a middleweight, was a little lighter at 1,270 pounds and brought $1.90 a pound. About 75 buyers supported the fair according to County Extension Agent Jack Stivers.
While that figures out to quite a chunk of change, 4-H members have expenses to pay before they can stick any cash in the bank. According to information sheets each 4-Her fills out and posts by his or her market animal at the Lake County Fair, Bagnell and Brown both paid $900 for their steers. Fi Dee ate 2,640 pounds of grain at 16 cents a pound while Stevo consumed 2,195 pounds. Then there’s hay to factor into the equation, a ton for Fi Dee and a little more than two tons for Stevo, plus miscellaneous expenses such as a mineral block, soap, halters and any vet care the animal might have needed.
Keeping track of feed and hay costs, the purchase price of the animal and any other expenses are required by the 4-H projects and are good practice for future business people and life.
Market animals are only one of the many projects 4-H kids take. The Lake County Fair gives 4-Hers a chance to display their hard work on many projects, such as leathercraft, photography, clothing construction, goats, cats, cooking, horses, poultry, jam-making and art.
