HANLEY, Sask. – When other teens are jet skiing or flipping burgers, siblings Lee and Dana Carpenter are vacuuming, combing or showering their bred heifer.
Both are longtime members of Hanley’s 4-H Beef Club and have shown animals at shows across Saskatchewan and attended livestock events as far away as Ontario.
Back home on the farm in central Saskatchewan, they keep busy with chores on their family’s 400-head commercial cow-calf and feeding operation at Carpenter Stock Farm.
Much of their time this summer is focused on getting their cattle ready for their close-up in the show ring.
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“I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t have his help,” Dana said.
She and Lee have worked together preparing six calves for shows ranging from exhibitions in Prince Albert, Sask., to the National Junior Limousin conference in Lloydminster.
That means handling the animals regularly to get them used to the sights, smells and sounds of humans they’ll encounter at competitions.
Parents Colette and Ivan support their 4-H projects with driving, cooking and financing when needed.
“If I didn’t enjoy it as much, it wouldn’t work,” Colette said.
There are fees to attend shows, but the exposure for the animals and the farm brings many benefits, they all agree.
“You pretty much lose showing cattle,” said Dana.
“But it’s promotion and advertising,” Lee quickly added. “I’ll be able to market cattle because I can make them look better.”
Since joining 4-H, the high school students have added small herds of purebred Limousin and Black Angus cattle.
In addition to learning how to show cattle, they have acquired the important but tedious task of keeping records.
“Figuring out profits and losses shows you where you’re at,” said Dana.
Through events like show team judging and oral and print marketing, Lee has grown comfortable with public speaking.
“I can talk on the mic and look at the crowd and it doesn’t phase me,” he said.
Colette said both siblings get along well, something the teens say wasn’t always the case.
“When we were younger, we both thought we were right,” said Dana.
“Now we’ve learned how to become better listeners and compromise when we have differing ideas,” said Lee.
Dana admits she joined 4-H because her brother was already a member, but after seven years, she stays involved because of the camaraderie within her 15 member club and with competitors at shows.
Both like to win and have enjoyed success in the ring, including reserve champion and champion heifer and top 10 in junior stockman. Any earnings from selling calves are usually invested back into their herds.
In addition to 4-H, both are active in a host of school sports plus football, hockey and fastball.
The Carpenters look to a future in farming and are planning post-secondary training: he at the University of Saskatchewan and she at Lakeland College.
For now, their more immediate goals are centred on attending the National Stock Show in Denver, Colorado.
Perry Libke, leader of the Hanley 4-H Beef Club, said 4-H develops in youth a strong work ethic, good public speaking skills and the ability to work with others, all skills that will serve participants well in their careers and lives.
He said the Carpenters have developed into good showmen. Libke said their success comes from picking the right calf and knowing how to get it ready for shows.
Adding purebreds has also enhanced their herds, he said.
“It gives them an understanding of how using good cattle can improve the herd,” he said.
