Amy Larson knows what it takes to raise prize-winning cattle and as a 4-H Club ambassador she’s used to getting in front of a crowd to talk about her projects.
Larson knows once she steps into an arena at a cattle show it’s not just the animal and how its muscle and skeletal structure conforms to breed characteristics that’s being judged.
Those judges are also looking at the person leading that animal around the ring, and it’s all about showmanship and overall appearance.
After seven years competing in 4-H Club shows like her hometown fair, the BC Northern Exhibition, Larson decided she was ready for the Super Bowl of agricultural fairs and decided to enter this year’s Calgary Stampede in July.
“It was extremely intimidating, just to go there by yourself, you don’t know anyone,” said Larson. “I had been going to a couple of other junior shows for ages 7-21 and you can show heifers and steers and I went to one in Williams Lake.
“It was so overwhelming. You drive in the back gates with our bumper-tow trailers and you have these massive trailers of all these people you’ve seen on television, all the chuckwagon racers, and their names are on the trailers and then you see the full grandstand. It’s a crazy experience, just to actually see it and how big it is in real life.”
In Calgary, she entered the Junior Steer Classic, which drew 90 competitors, and finished eighth out of eight in Class 5, but her placing didn’t matter to Larson.
“I consider it a complete success, just from the sheer amount of learning that went on there, because you know there’s so much more than what happens here in our BCNE,” said Larson. “It was terrifying to go there by myself but I learned so much.”
She put that knowledge to work for her last week at the BC Northern Exhibition, her hometown fair, winning prizes as reserve champion market steer and grand overall showman, as well as the reserve champion Angus steer title. Her family entered 25 steers in the beef category.
Larson’s prize steer, Joe, was auctioned off Saturday evening. Weighing in at 1,490 pounds, he was born Feb. 10, 2024 at Nine Mile Ranch near Quesnel. She’s hoping the new owner will allow her to take Joe to one more show — the Armstrong Interior Provincial Exhibition and Stampede — later this month before he goes to slaughter.
She gets attached to her cows and has to get used to the idea her steers are not likely to see their second year before they go to be processed into meat for the local grocery store.
“It’s something you have to keep in mind from the very beginning, you know that this is what they’re for but I have to say (Joe) is the favourite steer I’ve had because we’ve done so much together,” said Larson.
“He was really badly-behaved in the beginning and now he’s an angel, he’s kind of like a puppy dog and it’ really hard. I cried coming out of the ring (Friday), he was doing so well and you just get that emotion being proud of him. Everyone goes through that when they load their animals and say goodbye.”
Cupcake, a bred heifer who will give birth later this year, also won a first-place ribbon at the four-day BCNE, which wrapped up Sunday at Exhibition Park.
Larson has competed in cattle shows for seven of the eight years she’s been involved in 4-H. Her dad Steve is part of a long line of 4-H members that goes back several generations in his family. Her mom Celynne (nee Merritt) grew up racing sled dogs with her dad Larry.
Now heading into her second year studying biology at UNBC, Larson has plans to apply to the University of Saskatchewan’s veterinary program once she has the credits she needs. She works two days per week at her cousin Kayla Shallard’s poultry processing plant in Quesnel and that will give her some of the work experience hours needed to gain acceptance in the U of S program.
“I grew up loving animals and always had tons of animals around and my aunt (Janelle Merritt) is a vet,” said Larson. “I love 4-H because it really does feed your love for animals and that has led to a love and appreciation and a love for agriculture and food producers and how important it is to support local food producers and know where your food’s coming from.
“The 4-H program is so important in developing future entrepreneurs and future leaders and members of society because I think it’s the only program where you get a full experience of life skills. It’s not just about animals, you learn communication, public speaking, all these things, and you learn to work together as a team, how win, how to lose, how to go through hardships with yourself and your animal, and how people are always there to support you and you support them.”
Prince George district has four 4-H clubs — Pineview, Beaverly, Northwest and, new this year, South Haven. Larson started the South Haven and is the founding president of a club that now has about 30 members.
“It totally encompasses our motto of learning to do by doing and how important it is to be willing to learn things,” she said. “You can see kids that, at the beginning of the year, were really reserved and now they are flourishing, they talk to people and you see more confidence in them.
“There are so many opportunities for scholarships and trips in 4-H. Lots of people think it’s just about animals but you don’t have to be involved in agriculture or live on a farm. We have mountain biking this year as a project.”
