REGINA – Feeling under the weather was not enough to hold Jaelayne Wilson from leading her Angus heifer to victory before judge Jim Hallberg at the Canadian Junior Beef Xtreme competition.
This is not the first time the 15-year-old has won the big prize at Canadian Western Agribition but she admits it never gets boring competing.
The daughter of Lee and Dawn Wilson of Bashaw, Alta., the self-assured teenager has been showing cattle since she could walk. She and her sister, Dakota, are home schooled so they can spend more time working on the family ranch. While the two compete against each other regularly, they have an agreement to share their winnings. This year’s grand champion award was a cheque for $1,500.
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Owned in partnership with her parents, the bred heifer has also won jackpots and classes at shows such as Farmfair in Edmonton. The heifer calves in January and Jaelayne plans to bring her back as a two-year-old.
“Coming up in the fall, she’ll be back out,” she said.
Another seasoned showperson was the reserve champion winner, Amanda Libke, who has been coming to Agribition all her life. This was her first big win at the junior show that she has entered every year. She received $1,000 for her heifer that started as her 4-H project.
The 19-year-old accounting student at the Saskatoon Business College won with her solid red Simmental female that went on to compete in the supreme show later in the day. It was top Simmental at Saskatoon Fall Fair.
Although she felt she had a good chance, Libke did not get cocky as she eyed the competition from other young people in the ring.
“It was exciting …. You never know what they are going to pick.”
Her father, Wayne, said the family has been coming to the Agribition show and sale for 32 years. He, too, thought her chances were good but experience told him there are always surprises.
“We knew she had a good heifer but there are a lot of good ones to pick from,” he said.
The family owns Sunny Vale Simmentals near Hanley, Sask., where they have 90 purebred black and red Simmentals as well as the more traditional red and white fullbloods.
Other families are equally keen on Agribition youth opportunities.
Placing in the Hereford classes were four young people from the Hordos family where cousins, Kayla and Matthew, stood first and second in their division. Kayla went on to win the Hereford grand champion at the Xtreme show.
Her sister, Rena, won her division and cousin, James, stood second. Three of the four cattle were by the same sire and all were 4-H projects so both the heifers and their handlers were experienced.
“They’ve been through the circuit,” said Rena Hordos, who is a 19-year-old business administration student at the University of Regina.
They are all part of Mission Ridge Herefords where two families farm and raise purebred and commercial cattle together as well as grain farm an hour north of Regina.
Life is full of school, sports and 4-H, which has taught them responsibility and given them confidence.
For Rena, her Agribition experience meant running between the fair grounds and attending classes. She managed to get a professor to defer a quiz so she could spend the day at the show.
She and other family members were part of the 4-H judging team competition where they also did well.
Firm believers in the independence taught by the 4-H program, these youngsters do it all themselves.
“Our parents help us get here and they let us do everything else,” she said.
Their parents, Richard, Lorraine, Steve and Fran Hordos, sit in the stands and cheer but there is no interference as the younger family members clean pens, groom cattle or enter the show ring.
Rena credits the 4-H program with instilling a strong work ethic.
“I’m going to stay with it as long as I can, the friends you make, the contacts, the things you learn …. It all teaches you responsibility,” she said.
