MV Dairy Heifer Sale sees back-toback champ
By Blair Koch, Ag Weekly correspondent
Wednesday, September 10, 2008 5:28 PM CDT
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BLAIR KOCH/Ag Weekly
Karli Bower, 14, of Castleford shows Mocha J, the grand champion Magic Valley Dairy Heifer during the program's sale held at the Twin Falls County Fair. |
FILER, Idaho — To have a grand champion replacement heifer is a once-in-a-lifetime achievement and merely a dream for many participants in the Magic Valley Dairy Heifer Program. To have two grand champion heifers is almost unheard of.
Karli Bower, of Castleford, was shocked when her two-year program heifer earned the top quality prize because two years ago her program heifer had been bestowed the same honor.
The heifer was sold during the program’s annual sale on Aug. 30 at the Twin Falls County Fair in Filer. Thirty-six heifers were sold during the event, with prices ranging from around $3,000 to $5,000 per animal.
“I was totally surprised,” Bower said. “Before I went into the ring to sell her someone asked, ‘Have you ever seen a cow sell for $5000? You’re going to see it now.’ I didn’t really believe him but that’s what she sold for.”
The amount was “more than enough and more than expected,” Bower said.
“I’m not just going to spend the money,” she said. “It’s going into a college fund or toward a car.”
Part of the funds Bower raised may be used to help pay for her next heifer. Not only does she have a quality placement to uphold, Bower also earned grand champion accolades in showmanship.
“Oh yeah, I’ll be back next year,” she said.
MVDHP Sale committee member Reagon Hatch said the process used to assign program participants their heifers makes the back-to-back champion a rarity.
“It’s a crap-shoot really. The kids’ names are placed in a bucket and drawn for their lot number. When they purchase the heifers in the spring they get to chose between three animals in that lot,” he said. “The animals change a lot over the two years the kids have them, too, so you just really never know.”
Bower’s animal was sold to its farm of origin, the Dennis Boer Dairy in Wendell.
Although the sale is now over, the program’s steering committee is already getting ready for next year.
University of Idaho Animal Science extension educator and committee member Tianna Fife said applications for interested participants will be available in December.
“We take just 40 participants a year for the two-year program, and it’s open for kids in Twin Falls, Jerome Lincoln and Gooding counties,” she said.
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