Glenwood City boy wins heifer at Minnesota Beef Expo

ST. PAUL, MN — A Glenwood City student was awarded a shorthorn heifer during the 2016 Minnesota Beef Expo.

The event was held October 20 – 23, 2016, at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds in St. Paul. The four-day event is the largest all-beef show in Minnesota, and features youth contests, stock sales, a trade show, educational seminars, and an 860-head junior show.

Mathew Prinsen of Glenwood City received a heifer sponsored by Bollum Family Shorthorns of Goodhue, Minnesota, after completing an application to participate in the Minnesota Youth Beef Experience Program (MYBEP). He is part of a pool of 11 young people presented with a heifer. 

Prinsen became interested in showing beef cattle after showing dairy cows for a few years and watching his cousins show beef cattle. He decided he would like to try showing beef as well, and his mother’s significant other was willing to help him find good stock and learn about the cattle.

Steve Bazille, who is Prinsen’s mother’s significant other, said the heifer Mathew was awarded is very well bred.

“She’s definitely the fanciest one we’ve had around here,” he explained.

The MYBEP

Prinsen was awarded the heifer in his final year of eligibility for the MYBEP, and discussed his experience with the program.

“My mom and I wrote a letter that we had to send there, and I don’t know how many people have to go over it,” Prinsen said of the process. “They (Expo officials) called and talked to us about what would happen at the Expo and when we needed to be there.”

Each recipient is responsible for raising, breeding, and maintaining records on care of the animal. Participants are also expected to provide quarterly reports on the animals to the original owner and beef expo officials. The donating breeders serve as mentors to the respective winners.

Bazille and Prinsen said they have been in frequent touch with the Bollum family to provide updates on the heifer, named Jade, and ask questions. Prinsen noted the Bollums plan to come to Glenwood City soon to see how he is progressing with the heifer they bred. He also stated Jade was not the Bollum’s first choice for use in the MYBEP.

“They actually had another heifer in mind, but at the last minute decided to bring her (Jade) because she was the nicer of the two,” Prinsen explained.

Prinsen was provided a show stick, red show halter, a good set of clippers, a bag, and a sign for use with Jade at shows. He is required to hang the sign above Jade in the barn at shows, and needs to use the red halter when in the show ring. Failure to do either thing could result in Jade being removed from his care.

The 16-year-old did not have to show the heifer at the October 2016 Expo, but opted to do so. Even though Jade was still relatively new to both a show halter and show pen, the Bollums expressed pleasure that Prinsen opted to take her into the ring.

He is hoping to take the shorthorn heifer to four or five shows in 2017 before heading to the 2017 Expo. Prinsen knows a local representative for the MYBEP can check up on him and Jade at any time, so he plans to make sure she is always in good health, nicely groomed, and well behaved. He and Bazille agreed the red halter and sign above where Jade is tied in the barn will not only help him keep the heifer, but will breed knowledge of the program.

“He is going to have to get used to talking to people, and doing interviews,” Bazille noted. “We want to spread the word.”

Prinsen smiled and admitted the interview for this article was the first one he has done about his involvement in the MYBEP. He hopes to do more in the future to help people learn about the program and the beef industry.

For now, Prinsen said he is working with the Bollums to find a good bull to breed Jade to. Select Sires includes two sticks of semen with each heifer for breeding purposes, but Bazille said if Jade does not settle (become pregnant) with either of those, MYBEP officials will provide Prinsen with another heifer.

Bazille said the MYBEP officials want breeding heifers for participants to help those awarded heifers to continue learning, even after the heifer is bred. The participants will then get to experience working with a bred cow and raising a calf.

Recipients will compete for the 2016 MYBEP Achievement Award at the 2017 Beef Expo. Prinsen and his fellow competitors will be judged on the progress of their animals and the records kept. The Glenwood City student said he plans to show Jade at the 2017 Expo.

If the heifer settles and is judged pregnant via ultrasound at the next Expo, Prinsen is allowed to keep her. He expressed the hope that he could one day donate one of Jade’s descendants to the MYBEP program for another young person to have the opportunity he did.

The Minnesota Beef Expo

The 2015 MYBEP achievement award winner, Wyatt Lawrence of Princeton, Minnesota, received a belt buckle, an embroidered bag, and a $750 scholarship sponsored by the Minnesota Farmers Union and the Minnesota Farmers Union Agency.

A press release from the event stated people from all over the Midwest attend the expo, and more than 700 youth exhibitors competed in the weekend’s junior events. The expo kicked off on October 20 with a youth knowledge bowl and cattle fitting seminar. 

Other activities that day included a beef industry ideas and insights symposium, a performance by the Peterson Farm Brothers, and presentation of the first MYBEP heifer to Jayden Bailey of Benson, Minnesota.

The October 21 schedule included a youth judging contest with 218 competitors, a fitting contest in which 18 teams fitted an animal for the show ring, and a junior showmanship class that featured 391 contestants.

Also held October 21 was an embryo sale. The assembled crowd bid on 31 embryo lots, and the high-selling lot was sold for $4,250.

Saturday, October 22, featured the Minnesota Beef Expo Sale and the Midwest British White Park Select Sale. These events included two shows, supreme row selection, and a sit-down dinner served to over 950 people. 

The expo’s final day saw 858 head of cattle competing for top honors in the junior show for supreme and reserve champion heifer/female, supreme and reserve champion prospect calves, and supreme and reserve champion market beef.

The 2017 Minnesota Beef Expo will be held October 19 – 22 at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds.