{"id":10738,"date":"2016-03-01T07:19:35","date_gmt":"2016-03-01T14:19:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lastbestnews.com\/site\/?p=10738"},"modified":"2016-03-02T12:58:53","modified_gmt":"2016-03-02T19:58:53","slug":"heifer-program-gives-kids-a-jump-start-in-building-a-herd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/2016\/03\/heifer-program-gives-kids-a-jump-start-in-building-a-herd\/","title":{"rendered":"Heifer program gives kids a jump start in building a herd"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t\t<div id=\"slides-10738\" class=\"navis-slideshow\">\n\t\t\t<p class=\"slide-nav\">\n\n\t\t\t<a href=\"#\" class=\"prev\"><\/a>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"#\" class=\"next\"><\/a>\n\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t<div class=\"slides_container\"><div id=\"10738-slide1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Heiger-9.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Heiger-9-771x539.jpg\" \/><\/a><h6>Ed Kemmick\/Last Best News <a href=\"#\" class=\"slide-permalink\">permalink<\/a><\/h6><p>Moments after finally deciding which heifer she wants, aspiring rancher Shaylee Tamcke, left, gets a big hug from Veronica Christensen, her heifer donor. <\/p><\/div><div id=\"10738-slide2\"><a href=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Heifer-6.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Heifer-6-771x527.jpg\" \/><\/a><h6>Ed Kemmick\/Last Best News <a href=\"#\" class=\"slide-permalink\">permalink<\/a><\/h6><p>Shaylee's choice came down to two heifers, 299 and 294. At right is Sam the cow dog.<\/p><\/div><div id=\"10738-slide3\" data-src=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Heifer-7-771x514.jpg*771*514\" data-href=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Heifer-7.jpg\" \/><h6>Ed Kemmick\/Last Best News <a href=\"#\" class=\"slide-permalink\">permalink<\/a><\/h6><p>Shaylee and Veronica look at the records on the two heifers Shaylee is trying to choose between. Behind them are Seth Christensen, left, and his friend, Alex Benson.<\/p><\/div><div id=\"10738-slide4\" data-src=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Heifer-8-771x514.jpg*771*514\" data-href=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Heifer-8.jpg\" \/><h6>Ed Kemmick\/Last Best News <a href=\"#\" class=\"slide-permalink\">permalink<\/a><\/h6><p>Shaylee shields her eyes from the sun as she tries to get a closer look at the two heifers.<\/p><\/div><div id=\"10738-slide5\" data-src=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Heifer-4-771x514.jpg*771*514\" data-href=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Heifer-4.jpg\" \/><h6>Ed Kemmick\/Last Best News <a href=\"#\" class=\"slide-permalink\">permalink<\/a><\/h6><p>On her family's Park City property, Reianna Reiter leads Callie, the heifer she received last year through the NILE's Merit Heifer program.<\/p><\/div><div id=\"10738-slide6\"><a href=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Heifer-8-1-of-1-copy.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Heifer-8-1-of-1-copy-771x514.jpg\" \/><\/a><h6>Ed Kemmick\/Last Best News <a href=\"#\" class=\"slide-permalink\">permalink<\/a><\/h6><p>Seth Christensen with Blockanna, which he acquired through the NILE's Merit Heifer program a couple of years ago.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><script>jQuery( document ).ready( function() { loadSlideshow( 10738, 'https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/2016\/03\/heifer-program-gives-kids-a-jump-start-in-building-a-herd\/', 6 ) } );<\/script>\n<p>This article originally appeared in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yellowstonevalleywoman.com\/category\/raised-in-the-west\/\">Raised in the West magazine<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>On a warm, clear day in early December, 14-year-old Shaylee Tamcke is standing in a pen on the Christensen Red Angus ranch just outside Park City, trying to make her mind up.<\/p>\n<p>She is one of 22 young recipients taking part in the 2016 Merit Heifer program, sponsored by the Northern International Livestock Exposition Foundation.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Shaylee has already narrowed her choices down to two heifers, \u201c299\u201d and \u201c294,\u201d and though she doesn\u2019t know it, Veronica Christensen, who is Shaylee\u2019s heifer donor, is hoping she\u2019ll pick 299.<\/p>\n<p>Based on what Shaylee stated in her Merit Heifer application, Veronica said, 299 seems like just the right heifer\u2014she\u2019ll show well but should also be an excellent producer, a herd builder.<\/p>\n<p>But Veronica\u2019s not pushing. She knows it\u2019s Shaylee\u2019s choice, so she\u2019s being honest about the advantages of both heifers. They go over genetics and feeding records, body size and shape, how they move and how they plant their feet. They\u2019ve already been out to a nearby pasture to look at the mothers of both heifers.<\/p>\n<p>The mother of 299 is a beautiful creature, squarely built and straight-backed, but then there\u2019s \u201cMoose,\u201d the mother of 294. She\u2019s well-built, too, but she\u2019s older and she\u2019s huge\u2014hence the name Moose.<\/p>\n<p>Back in the pen, Shaylee is weighing the merits of the two candidates.<\/p>\n<p><div class=\"well\"><div class=\"dfad dfad_pos_1 dfad_first\" id=\"_ad_652\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/goo.gl\/mjhWkW\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/lastbestnews.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/201703_capeair_variable.jpg\" alt=\"CapreAir_Variable\" width=\"510\" height=\"180\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-18069\" \/><\/a><\/div><\/div>\u201cI like 299,\u201d she tells Veronica, \u201cbut 294\u2014there\u2019s just something about her. And I like Moose, a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Veronica suggests she climb up on the fence and look down at their backs from above. \u201cShe\u2019s really straight,\u201d Shaylee says, referring to 294, \u201cand she\u2019s really pretty.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Then, her mind made up, she walks over to Veronica and says, \u201cI think I\u2019ll do 294 then.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Veronica grabs her and wraps her in a big hug, then pulls away and says, \u201cHe\u2019s gonna do you very well.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Variations of that scene have been played out hundreds of times since Bill Pelton started the Merit Heifer program for the NILE in 2000. Since then, program coordinator Shelby Shaw said, 301 donors and recipients have been matched up. The idea is to give young people a head start in the cattle business and to preserve and promote agricultural traditions.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_10745\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 140px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"addboard wp-image-10745 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/lastbestnews.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/ShelbyShaw1-1-of-1.jpg\" alt=\"Shaw\" width=\"140\" height=\"208\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shelby Shaw<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The heifers are jointly owned by NILE and the recipients for one year, after which the recipients became full owners of the heifer and all her offspring. They also have to make arrangements to have the heifer bred and then exhibit her at the NILE Stock Show the following October.<\/p>\n<p>In recent years, there have been 22 recipients in each class, Shaw said, with 75 to 100 applicants vying to be chosen. Recipients are selected based on merit, their goals and their ability to care for the animals. The program is not limited to Montana. Recipients have also come from Wyoming, Washington, South Dakota, Utah and Colorado. Most of the donors are from Montana and Wyoming.<\/p>\n<p>The budding ranchers are required to keep detailed records and to file monthly reports with both the NILE and the heifer donors. Shaw will send the recipients different questions each month, and she encourages them to keep in contact with their donors.<\/p>\n<p>She\u2019ll even ask questions like \u201cWhat\u2019s your donor\u2019s dog\u2019s name?\u201d Veronica said. \u201cThat\u2019s Shelby\u2019s way of making sure they stay in touch with the donors.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Veronica and her husband, Vince, previously donated two heifers through the program, and with heifers currently fetching an average price of $2,700, Shaw said, \u201cit\u2019s a huge donation.\u201d Huge and then some. Veronica said a registered heifer with good genetics can go for as much as $5,000.<\/p>\n<p>But she and Vince are passionate about encouraging the next generation to get involved in agriculture.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is the perfect program for what we want,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Their son Seth was a heifer recipient in 2014, when he was given a registered Red Angus from Mill Creek Red Angus in Plevna. Seth needed a Red Angus because he\u2019s working toward becoming a purebred breeder.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_10746\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 771px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"addboard wp-image-10746 size-large\" src=\"http:\/\/lastbestnews.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/Heifer-4-1-of-1-copy-771x537.jpg\" alt=\"Laugh\" width=\"771\" height=\"537\" srcset=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Heifer-4-1-of-1-copy.jpg 771w, https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Heifer-4-1-of-1-copy-336x234.jpg 336w, https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Heifer-4-1-of-1-copy-768x535.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Ed Kemmick\/Last Best News<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Out looking in Veronica Christensen&#8217;s pasture at the mothers of the two heifers she&#8217;s trying to decide between, Shaylee Tamcke laughs at her inability to make up her mind.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>He did his research and looked for a heifer with different genetics from the Red Angus on his parents\u2019 ranch, characters that would strengthen the herd.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was looking for some different body size from what we have,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I wanted an animal that would last forever\u2014not just a show cow.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>By coincidence, Seth had met Bruce and Tina Ketchum at a Junior Red Angus Association get-together in Billings the summer before he became a recipient, and he really liked one of their heifers and asked them a lot of questions about it. So he was surprised when the Ketchums ended up being his donors.<\/p>\n<p>He and his family drove to Plevna\u2014\u201cAll I know is, it was a long drive in the dark,\u201d Seth said\u2014and he had to sort through a large number of heifers, gradually narrowing his choices down to five, then three, two and one. Veronica said that when he picked Blockanna (her registered name), Bruce Ketchum told him, \u201c\u2018Seth, that\u2019s the same little heifer you bugged me about this summer.\u2019 So, they were kind of destined to be together.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Blockanna lost her first calf to pneumonia, Veronica said, but they gave her another calf to raise and she did really well.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe\u2019s got maternal instincts that are just phenomenal, so we\u2019re excited,\u201d Veronica said.<\/p>\n<p>Not far from Christensen Red Angus, a friend of theirs, 16-year-old Reianna Reiter, lives with her parents and two younger siblings. She became a heifer recipient last year, receiving a registered Black Angus from a ranch in Belgrade. She named her Callie. Reianna\u2019s grandfather used to have a lot of cattle, she said, but her family has just nine Black Angus now.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_10747\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 336px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"addboard wp-image-10747 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/lastbestnews.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/Heifer-1-1-of-1-copy.jpg\" alt=\"Seth\" width=\"336\" height=\"286\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Ed Kemmick\/Last Best News<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Seth Christensen was given Blockanna, a registered Red Angus, through the NILE&#8217;s Merit Heifer program a couple of years ago.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\u201cI picked out Callie because I thought she was cute,\u201d she admitted, but she has also has big plans for her. \u201cYeah,\u201d she said, \u201cI\u2019m gonna try to build a herd.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Reianna said she understood, generally, what kind of paperwork went into keeping track of a heifer, but she didn\u2019t really get it until going through the Merit Heifer program. She wasn\u2019t the only way who found the process educational.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy grandpa helped me and he was learning stuff all the time,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a constant learning process,\u201d Veronica agreed. \u201cEven at my age.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, back in the pen at Christensen Red Angus, Shaylee\u2019s dad, Shane, is explaining how they\u2019ve got a small spread near Helena, with about 35 cows. Shaylee has shown cows for three years and she already has one heifer, he says, but this will be her first purebred.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe wants to be a dentist and have 10 cows, or something like that,\u201d he says, so 294 is the heifer she\u2019s hoping to build that herd on.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to giving her a heifer, Veronica informs Shaylee that Christensen Red Angus also intends to pay her first-year membership fees in both the state and national Junior Red Angus associations.<\/p>\n<p>After Shaylee picks out her heifer, her dad stares at his phone for a little while, then looks up and shouts over, \u201cYou\u2019ve got 50 days.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Asked what he\u2019s referring to, Shane says it\u2019s 50 days until the Montana Winter Fair in Lewistown. That\u2019s where Shaylee plans to show 294 for the first time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This article originally appeared in Raised in the West magazine. On a warm, clear day in early December, 14-year-old Shaylee Tamcke is standing in a pen on the Christensen Red Angus ranch just outside Park City, trying to make her mind up. She is one of 22 young recipients taking part in the 2016 Merit [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10739,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[3915,3911,3910,3916,3913,3914,3912],"class_list":["post-10738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-montana","tag-bill-pelton","tag-merit-heifer-program","tag-nile","tag-raised-in-the-west","tag-shaylee-tamcke","tag-shelby-shaw","tag-veronica-christensen","prominence-top-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10738"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10738\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}