From Calf to Show Ring

An FFA Project Series

For my 2026 market and breeding projects, all animals were born and bred on my farm. The steer I plan to take to the Thurmont & Emmitsburg Community Show in September is a Maintainer named Fort Worth. Fort Worth was born on March 25, 2025, and was the last calf born on my farm. I also plan to bring two heifers to the community show. My Maintainer heifer, Montana, and my shorthorn plus heifer, Daytona.

Fort Worth, Montana, and Daytona are all getting ready for their first Jackpot show at the end of January. They will be heading to Virginia, along with their sister who is being sold in the sale. The preparation going into this show has consisted of walking them every day and washing them every once in a while, so they don’t have clumps of mud and manure when we get there. Saturday, January 31, is the heifer show, where Montana and Daytona will both be shown. On Sunday, February 1, Fort Worth will be shown. But before we even go to our show, we have to go to my county’s weigh-in so that I will be able to show Fort Worth at the Carroll County Fair this July.

When starting a herd, you need to find a sire to grow your herd. Many people in the stock show industry use A.I. (Artificial Insemination) by choosing a sire to produce a high-quality calf. On my farm, we use a bull that we raised and showed in 2024. Some of our cows have been artificially inseminated to produce higher quality and to broaden the genetics. You simply don’t want too many closely related animals. When breeding your cow, you typically wait until the heifer is 13-15 months old and is starting to come into heat. A heifer’s heat cycles begin around 11 months, but they could begin sooner. When a cow is in heat, it refers to the time she is most likely to get pregnant. That is the best time to artificially inseminate her or put her with a bull.

A cow is usually pregnant for about nine months, just like a human, and will then give birth. Once a calf is born, there could be some problems with your cow that could affect the baby’s health. Mastitis is a common infection that can occur when a cow’s udder has experienced a blockage from bacteria that is affecting the milk production. You would typically see that one teat has gotten bigger than the other or the milk comes out in clots. The milk may also come out red, yellow, or watery. Another thing that could happen is that your cow may prolapse during birth. This could be very harmful to the cow and the calf. Sometimes, the calf may be too big for the cow, and she may prolapse that way, or the cow may simply be fat. Prolapse is when an animal’s uterus comes out of their usual spot in the body and has to be put back in. Many people ask me if twins are common. They seem to be more common on our farm compared to others, but typically 1-2 percent of pregnancies result in twins. We have had a total of three sets of twins—two from the same cow, which could be genetics or nutrition. Dairy cows are more likely to produce twins than beef cows. If twins are produced, you will definitely wish for them to be the same sex. Freemartin is a term used to describe a heifer born as a twin with a male. There is a 92.95 percent chance of freemartins being infertile due to a disruption from the testosterone in the bull calf interfering with the female reproductive organs of the heifer calf.

As we start off the 2026 calving season and show season, we pray that we have healthy, happy calves produced by healthy mommas. And we also look forward to improving my show calves.

Pictured from left are Dakota (red cow), Montana (white belly), and Daytona on December 15, 2025.