ROCKY FORD: Renowned
cattle-grooming expert Kirk Stierwalt lead a beef show school here,
teaching youth and their parents the next level of grooming tips.
The hands-on session, May 23-25, drew participants from Colorado,
Kansas and Texas.
Stierwalt, from Leedey, OK, was delayed
slightly due to a tornado destroying some of his barns the night
before the school began, but still led an intense three-day school,
sponsored by WW Feed & Supply and Purina Mills.
The youth and
parent teams were guided by Stierwalt through daily care and washing
tips during the opening session. In Saturday's session, the 4-H'ers
moved their own calves into chutes and Stierwalt focused on clipping.
Using chalk, he drew out areas and recommended which types of clipper
blades to use on each segment of the calf. He then did a
clipping demonstration and sent each youth to their calf to duplicate
the efforts. Stierwalt then provided 1-on-1 help through the
potential trouble spots or ideas on how to improve each beef project's
individual composition. Youth ages 10 up through FFA advisors
and parents intently watched and absorbed the lessons throughout
the day.
The hands-on learning continued Sunday with show day
grooming techniques. Again, Stierwalt used a live demonstration,
followed by practice on each 4-H'ers calf. Showmanship rounded
out the school.
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