By Niamh Bailes

news@cullmantimes.com

Cold Springs High School’s Future Farmers of America club won the Cullman County Fair’s Herdsman Award in September but they are not resting yet. On Thursday, they are going for another win at the Alabama National Fair in Montgomery.

“This is our second year in a row to win at the County Fair,” said Stevie Mullins, Agri-science teacher and FFA sponsor at Cold Springs School. “We hope the streak will last in Montgomery. I think we’ll be tough to beat.”

Jay Conway, 4H Regional Extension Agent said the entrants put a lot of effort into preparing for the Herdsman Award show.

“We judge these kids on how well they can control the animals in the barn and the ring and how well they keep their stalls,” said Conway. “It takes a lot of hard work to keep the animals in award winning shape.”

Mullins and the students’ parents transported the cattle to the fairgrounds the night before the show to be cleaned and groomed. Their winning formula was to group the breeds together in impeccable stalls and put up curtains in the school colors with matching nametags.

“Everything was really well decorated,” said Mullins. “A lot went into it.”

“If they carry these practices back to the farm,” Conway said, “the sanitation and health of the animal is improved. This award is really to promote practices that improve the health and safety of the animals.

The Cold Springs FFA group is made up of 10th graders Jessi Harbison, Hayden Ham, Brandon Harbison, and Eric Harris, 8th grader Tiffany Lively and 6th graders, Hanna Harbison and Nick Williams. Each student has two or three cattle to look after, which, according to Mullins, is no easy task.

They meet every night at a show barn belonging to Nick William’s parents, Jeff and Tonya Williams of Triple C Farm. They spend two to three hours feeding and grooming the animals and cleaning the stalls.

Jessi Harbison, leader of the show team at Cold Springs, said she doesn’t mind putting in such long hours.

“I don’t really see it as a sacrifice,” she said. “It’s not really about taking time out of my day. I enjoy being around animals and I like working alongside everyone else. We all work really hard, but when we’re together its fun.”

Mullins said being able to keep all the animals together at the show barn, so the group members can all work together, is what set them apart and helped them win the Herdsman award.

“They all help each other out,” he said of the FFA members. “It’s hard for them to get bored when they’re all there together. It keeps enthusiasm up.”

Harbison said they were not really expecting to win the award.

“We just put a lot of work in, and were hoping it would pay off,” she said, “and it did.”

Harbison said she and her Fellow FFA members have learned a lot from looking after their own cattle every evening. She, like most of the FFA members, grew up on a farm and wants to make a career out of working with animals.

“My parents have a beef and poultry farm, but this experience has taught me more about getting cattle wormed, giving them shots, how to look after them completely,” she said. “Knowing that kind of thing helps when you’re trying to get into vet school.”

Hayden Ham also wants to be a veterinarian and the other members want to work with animals but haven’t settled on a specific career yet.

“The kids have learned to be responsible for their own cattle,” said Mullins. “They’ve learned that the animals depend on them every day.”

They also learn the different parts of the animals, the different breeds and what works best for each, “basically,” said Mullins, “ they learn the foundations of livestock.”

Most schools in Cullman County will have representatives at the Alabama National Fair on Thursday. With 200 head of cattle entered, Harbison is cautious but hopeful.

“I wouldn’t want to say ‘I think we’ll win’ right now,” she said. “There will be a lot of competition.”

Mullins said the award at the Alabama National Fair is for Grand Champion of each breed instead of a Herdsman award, but the care and attention the Cold Springs FFA has already been awarded for should boost their chances.

“I can say I hope to come out with a win with the Charolais Cattle and the Simmentails,” he said.

Fair Herdsman Winners

1st place: Cold Springs FFA: Jessi Harbison, Hayden Ham, Brandon Harbison, Eric Harris, Tiffany Lively, Hanna Harbison and Nick Williams.

2nd place: Blake and Zac Richter, Cullman

3rd Place: Lance and Jake Smith of the Black Knight Cattle Company, Welti