From Calf to Show Ring

Makayla Comer is a junior at Catoctin High School and a member of the Future Farmers of America (FFA). She is serving as the 2025-2026 Thurmont & Emmitsburg Community Show Ambassador and currently serves as Social Media Coordinator. In this monthly series, Comer will take readers behind the scenes of what it takes to raise both market and breeding cattle, sharing her journey as she prepares to show at the Carroll County Fair and the Thurmont & Emmitsburg Community Show in 2026. Comer and her family own and operate a cattle farm in Rocky Ridge, Maryland. Readers are invited to follow along as she shares the dedication, responsibility, and hard work involved in raising cattle.

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. Forth Worth was born on March 25, 2025, and was the last calf born on my farm in 2025. I also plan to bring two heifers to the community show: my Maintainer heifer, Montana, and my Shorthorn Plus heifer, Daytona.

Recently on the farm, we have been “A.I.-ing” our cows. No, we are not putting artificial intelligence in them. Before artificial intelligence became A.I., it was originally Artificial Insemination. We A.I.’d six of our cows, and the other four were bred to our bulls.

Not only have we just been breeding the herd, but we have also gone to a show. On June 13, we headed to the Shorthorn Eastern Regionals. I brought both of my heifers, Montana and Daytona. The show started off with showmanship, and I placed second. Then, in the heifer class, both of the girls ended up being in the same class. Daytona beat her sister and placed third, while Montana placed fourth. Thank you, Aubrey Short, for helping me out in the ring. Fun fact: I actually bought Montana’s mom from Aubrey back in 2018.

My next stop is the Carroll County Fair!

If you have been reading along since I started writing and talking about the process of raising a show cow, then you have probably seen the changes in the cows themselves. One way you have seen them change is by the way they look, which is achieved by feeding. As my county fair is Carroll County, the minimum weight for the market animal is 1,200 pounds, and the maximum is 1,500. My goal is mainly to make them eligible for the Carroll County Fair. If they are not eligible for the Carroll County Fair, they will then be shown and sold at the Community Show.

When you first get your calf, you want to start feeding out slowly. You want them to gain weight, but not too much weight. After we weigh them in for the fair, we then start to put more feed on them. A way to put more feed on them is by having a higher percentage feed or feeding more. We feed 12 percent protein sweet feed. We get all of our feed and supplements from Farmers Cooperative. One thing I see the most when going to shows is people who have steers that meet the minimum weight in April. That can be good and bad. It shows that your animal is eating enough, but you could also go over weight and be too heavy for your fair. One time, we had a steer at a show that was at the maximum weight in May, and then was grass fed for a few months to lose weight. Doing that will make your steer lose its shape. To prevent this from happening, you should be watching what you are feeding and how much you are feeding.

As Carroll County Fair is around the corner, next month I will be talking about all the stuff we bring to a show, as in supplies and equipment.

Makayla Comer showing Daytona at the Shorthorn Eastern Regionals.