Another sign that spring is close, the 4-H beef was weighed and measured at the Mineral County Fairgrounds last Sunday. There will be five cattle sold at the 4-H sale on Saturday, Aug. 5 along with lambs and pigs which have yet to be weighed. Some of those critters have yet to be born, where the cattle have several months of growth on them.

The Livestock Project Leader is in her ninth year but Mary Jo Lommen has been involved in 4-H most of her life.

“And then my kids were in 4-H and now my grandkids are in 4-H and I wanted to stay involved with them.”

Lommen says that over the years, the process has not changed much with the vison of 4-H.

“But like the economy, it’s more expensive. The feed costs more but the animals sell for more. The competition remains strong and the kids are still wonderful. I think that’s what 4-H brings out in kids. Hard work and responsibility. You have to take care of your own animal and this teaches them so much about that.”

Her son, Marc Haskins, handles the 4-H horse program but Lommen oversees the other animals.

“In April we have weigh in for the pigs and in May we have the weigh in for the sheep. Piglets and lambs are being born now. Actually, from the first of January through February.”

She went on to explain that the age requirements in Mineral County are that the kids must be 12 years old for beef and 9 years old for pigs and sheep. Each county sets their own age requirements for livestock projects in addition to state guidelines. Lommen is very proud of this program and said they just keep building it.

“We’re working on raising money to build a whole new addition with a pole barn for the show ring and the sale ring.”

Heather Haskins, a sophomore at Superior High School, did swine for four years before switching to market beef and this is her 4th steer. Her Red Angus steer will eat about $1,500 to $2,000 worth of food between now and the first weekend in August. She’s been a long-time active member in 4-H.

“I’m going to stay and do as much as I can with 4-H as long as I can. It’s super fun,” she smiles. “I’ve done horses and I did do leatherworking for two years as side projects but I love doing steers. It’s fun to have the animal for almost a full year.”

Her steer weighed in at 670 pounds at the weigh in and calculated to weigh around 1,280 pounds in 6 more months.

“I feed him Axmen pellets now and I’ll either get finishing pellets from Dixon (Feeds) or Cenex as they had good recommendations. He also gets hay, not just pellets.”

St. Regis High School student Macy Hill, who graduates in May and attend Montana State University in Bozeman to study Fish and Wildlife Management this fall, said, “This is my 12th year in 4-H and my 4th year with steers. Before that I did four years of sheep and then a year of pig and before that I was with smaller animals like bunnies and cats. And because we have to have one other project besides livestock, I’ve also done dog agility and sewing.”

Having such a variety of projects, her favorite was her first sheep. This year’s steer, Ferdinand, is a beast.

“He was 700 pounds when we got him October 11 and today, he was 895. Before the fair I’ll be working halter-wise with him and then when it gets a little warmer, I’ll start to groom him some more to get his frame looking nice. And then we have some hills at our house that I’ll walk him on to get his muscles and everything into shape.”

Attachment to the animal varies from student to student and Hill shared her history.

“For sheep, it was hard the first year and then OK after that. Same with steers, the first one was really hard but then a little easier. For this one, it’s probably going to be hard because he’s the last steer I’ll have.”

Wyatt Todd who is in his fourth year showing steers also has a cow-calf operation in St. Regis at 16 years of age. His steer weighed in at nearly 600 pounds. He’s aware of the importance of time management juggling all that he has on his plate.

“So, it depends on the day like sometimes I don’t have enough time to work with him as much as I’d like to but usually it’s about 30 minutes a day with him, not counting the feeding and watering. I’m making sure he has constant care the whole time even when I’m not around.”

The 4-H program is overseen by Dave Brink, the MSU Extension Agent for Mineral County Agriculture, Natural Resource, and 4-H. Emily Park is next to him handling Community Development and as the MSU Administrative Assistant. The beef weigh in day is all hands-on-deck as Brink had a wooden measuring stick to determine the hip height of each animal as it was being weighed, and

Park carried two clipboards and had a phone in her ear for the busy afternoon. Brink explained the science and calculations of what was being done.

“In livestock, and a lot of other animals, we have a frame score which is the skeletal structure of the animal to see if it’s properly proportioned in muscle. If an animal has a large skeleton and good musculature then they would be potentially at a high frame score so you’d expect that animal to weigh more. The frame score gives you an approximation of what the weight of that animal should be when it goes to market.”

And for these steers that will be the 4-H Sale Day on Aug. 5 along with the lambs and pigs.

“We take a hip height measurement so we measure the vertical height at the hips. We look at the age and the weight of it today to calculate what the finished weight should be. We look at the number of days it will be on feed until their next official weigh in, which will be at the Mineral County Fair which is 193 days from now. So, by knowing what the finished weight should approximately be and today’s weight and the difference, then we know roughly how much they should try to put on that steer on a daily gain basis to make that finish weight.”

In general, the matrix gives a good ballpark goal backed by years of livestock production knowledge. Brink went on to explain how the students exercise their animal. He said that you’ll see the water trough and feeding area in different parts of the field making the steer walk between the 2 of them. That distance would widen if it’s determined more muscle is needed so the animal will walk farther building more muscle doing what it naturally does.

“As that animal is putting on weight, is it in the right areas? Is it fat because it’s not being exercised enough or too much exercise only building muscle where it won’t have any finishing cover to it. This is where they adjust the diet, play with the exercise and try to equal everything out so that by the time it comes to the fair, it’s carrying the ideal amount of fat about of 1/4 to 6/10 inch.”

Most of the steers were in the 9- to 10-month-old range with hip heights running around 44 to 48 inches which indicates a frame score of 5 to 6. So, by the matrix when it all comes together, they should be in the 1,150-to-1,250-pound range or slightly more. To hit that goal taking in age, weight, hip height and number of days to market, on average most of them need to gain about 2 to 3 pounds a day. How much food and what type of nutritional values are in it will be adjusted as the animal is monitored closely for the next 6 months.

“It’s not a perfect science. There are things you’ll need to tweak constantly and adjust and pay attention to the animal on how it is actually progressing,” said Brink.