21 steers shown in 4-H competition

"Good boy, good boy, good boy," Josh Ekberg of the Whitepine Happy Workers kept telling "Hank" his polled Hereford during the 4-H junior showmanship beef competition at the Sanders County Fair Saturday morning.

Judge Chad Booth even pointed out to the crowd how pleased he was that the 14-year-old was talking with his animal during the competition, which got him a blue ribbon. Ekberg was one of seven in the junior competition and one of 21 to take their 4-H steer intothe arena, which included 14 seniors this year.

Booth broke the seniors into three groups. With each batch of kids, he explained what they did right and where they could improve. He had the eight best contestants in the senior class - all purple ribbon holders - return to the ring for a final show before selecting the winners. He said it was a tough decision, but picked Kara Christensen of the Hot Springs Wranglers for Grand Champion. Christensen was the big winner in the junior showmanship last year. Brooke Jackson, also a Wrangler, was the Reserve Champ.

More than 120 people attended the beef competition, which ran more than three hours and covered showmanship, market and breeding. Booth said it was fun to sort the best ones, but tough because of the high quality.

"Of all the years that I've been the superintendent, this is the best set of steers I've had in this barn," said Richard Jackson, who's been the beef barn superintendent for more than a dozen years. "Even with the price of feed going up this year, it didn't affect the way the kids fed them up. Makes me proud to be a leader to bring this quality of beef to the fair," said Jackson, who was a 4-H member of the defunct Niarada Busy Beavers for five years as a kid. He was also a 4-H member in Lake County.

In the junior class, Booth went with Brooklynn Crain of the South Side Sparks for the grand championship ribbon and Gavin Hafner, also of the Plains club, for reserve. His brother, Cody Hafner, took top honors in the market competition and Christensen took reserve.