What does it take to make a 13-year-old have the brightest smile you ever saw … like he had just won the big lottery?
For Shay Chappotelle, a fourth-year member with the Pembina West 4-H Beef Club, it was the moment he realized he had won the District Grand Champion Steer title at the annual Westlock and District 4-H Beef Achievement Days June 5 and 6 at North Central Livestock near Clyde.
The trio of judges, Mark Kilar, Gilbert Schmidt and Rebecca Reich, after having judged 66 steers from four clubs in the District chose his black Simmental X steer as the best of 2016.
Shay couldn’t have been happier and his excitement showed when his steer was declared Grand Champion.
His steer, TED, started out the 4-H year at 770 pounds and had a sale weight of 1,574 pounds for a 3.27 pound Average Daily Gain (ADG). The Pembina West 4-H Beef Club member’s steer sold for $4.10 per pound, and was purchased by Westlock Veterinary Clinic. That’s a total of $6,453.40.
Meanwhile, 16-year-old Kaylee Huppertz was also having a very good day. Her club champion steer FRITZ was selected as the District Reserve Grand Champion. He started out the year at 840 pounds and had a sale weight of 1,535 pounds for a 3.16 lb ADG. Rocky Mountain Equipment purchased her steer for $3.70 per pound; a total of $5,679. Kaylee had several other District wins over the weekend as well.
In total, the 66 steers sold for $245,227 on 90,824 pounds for an average of $3,715.56 per steer, or an average of $3.70 per pound. (These are unofficial figures)
Pembina West Club Reserve Champion was Madison Miller, Bumper to Bumper paid $2.20 per pound for the 1,604 pound steer.
In the Golden Sunset club, Allie Huppertz sold her 1,565 pound steer to Westlock Power Sports for $3.20 per pound.
Sunniebend 4-H Beef Club Champion went to Payton Gregoire, last year’s District champion. Her 1,455 pound steer went to Properzi Tims law firm for $2.60 per pound.
The Reserve Champion for the club went to Maygen Fairholm. Brown’s Chrysler picked up the 1,564 pound steer for an even $3 per pound.
Rounding out the show champions, Double Diamond 4-H Multi Club Champion went to Eme Artemenko. Her 1,525 pound steer was purchased by Nyal Farms for $2.85 per pound.
The Reserve Champion for the club went to Lilly Artemenko. Her steer crossed the finish line at 1,386 pounds, and was purchased by North Central Livestock for $2.75 per pound.
For other District Champions, Hannah Gregoire of Sunniebend had the Grand Champion Heifer, with Reserve going to Kaylee Huppertz of Golden Sunset.
Cassandra vande Ligt of Pembina West had the Grand Champion two-year cow/calf and Erika Huppertz of Golden Sunset took Reserve.
Payton Gregoire of Sunniebend took Grand Champion three-year cow/calf, with Ryley Patriquin of Golden Sunset taking Reserve.
Cassandra vande Ligt of Pembina West won Overall Champion cow/calf, with Kaylee Huppertz of Golden Sunset taking Reserve.
Heifer Senior Showmanship first went to Hannah Gregoire of Sunniebend and her sister Payton took second.
Lian Ruch of Golden Sunset won Heifer Junior Showmanship first and Seth Fairholm of Sunniebend took second.
Steer Showmanship gold went to Lilly Artemenko of Double Diamond and second went to Hannah Gregoire of Sunniebend.
While those are the top winners, no one can argue the animals brought to this year’s show and sale were of good quality, and the members can all be proud of what they accomplished with their projects in this 4-H year.
During the lunch break following the show on Monday and before the sale, the Vimy Dunrobin Club held its goat show in the north ring inside the NCL sale facility.
On Sunday, at the beginning of the show, various District awards were handed out to members for top record books, showmanship, and judging for their animals,
With their Achievement Day show over, that pretty much wraps up the year for the beef members, but there will be club windups and the upcoming Northwest Region “Focus on 4-H” event to be held June 30 to July 3 at the Mayerthorpe arena.
