My parents had me join 4-H when I was nine (9) years old. Cade and I joined the local 4-H club together. I think eight (8) was the minimum age to join 4-H at the time. Our club had the Larsens (Gaylon and Barry) and the Hokansons (Elizabeth and Neil).
We had a "livestock" club. Each club member had to have a project for the year and keep a project record book. We had monthly club meetings that rotated among the Jasperson, Larsen, and Hokanson homes. We learned things like beef cuts, strategies for feeding market animals, showmanship, judging, etc.
Cade chose to raise a market lamb for his project the first year, and I chose to raise a market steer. My steer was named "Red Eye." He was one of the house calves we had that year. I used to go to the corral, sit on his back while he was laying down, and talk to him. He would turn his head around and lick my hand. (If you have never had a cow lick your hand, you should try it sometime. It is a fun experience!)
I broke Red Eye to wear a halter and to lead. I loved him a lot.
Now you should know one little thing about market 4-H projects. The culminating activity for the project is to take the market animal to the county fair and livestock auction. Yep, you heard that right, at the end of the year, you sell your pet to the highest bidder. The highest bidder turns your pet into roast beef, t-bone steaks, and hamburger.
After that year, Cory joined 4-H (and later Keri when she turned eight). We all raised market steers each year. In addition, we would compete in the 4-H horse show at the fair.
In our second year of 4-H, I took out my first bank loan. Dad wanted his kids to experience the credit process. So, we went to the Star Valley State Bank and met with the banker. We took out a $500 loan to buy feed for our steers for the summer. Cade, Dad, and I were the signers on the loan. We repaid the loan at the end of the summer when we sold the steers. We took out a $500 load each year after that.
When I was twelve, Dad decided that we should get back into the sheep business. That spring, we took out a $1,200 loan. We went to Montpelier Idaho to the livestock auction. Dad helped us pick out eight (8) Suffolk ewes and a Suffolk ram. With these 9 sheep, Cade, Cory, and I started our registered, purebred, Suffolk sheep herd. Each of our sheep was registered with the United Suffolk Sheep Association. While Cade and Cory helped with raising the sheep, I maintained all of the registration paperwork. We recorded the birthdate for each lamb. I would send in the registration paperwork to the association to get the lamb registered and get the papers for it.
That summer at the fair, we took our sheep to show. We won the grand prize ram and grand prize ewe. Our sheep project made our days at the fair quite busy. We would show our sheep, our market steers, and ride in all of the horse show events. We would be running back and forth between the arena and the animal barns.
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| (l to r) me and Cade showing our ewes at the fair (August 1985) |
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| (l to r) judge, me, Cade, another contestant showing our ewes at the fair (August 1985) |
We grew our sheep herd to about 25 head by keeping our ewe lambs and rotating our rams. As I write this story, I do not remember if Cade or Cory took over the registration process when I left home. I suspect it was Cade. I know we had the sheep in the spring of 1990 when I ran the ranch for Dad because I remember shearing them. But I think Dad sold them that fall.
I have fond memories of my time in 4-H. I appreciate Dad teaching me the bank loan process. By the time I was in high school, Cade, Cory, and I would make about $250-300 each by winning ribbons at the fair for our sheep, market steers, and horse riding. We would compete in the 4-H classes as well as the open classes for sheep and horses.
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