4–H Beef Club learns how to halter break their animals

Ben Miller
4H Beef Club Reporter

The United Beef Club had its first meeting at the home of Matt and Jared McQuaker on Saturday, May 1st.
4H leaders are Bud McQuaker and Brent Miller. At this meeting the club received and filled out project information sheets, discussed project expectations and held elections. The 11 members elected the following officers: Kevin Gemmell–President; Matt McQuaker–Vice-President; David Nussbaumer–Secretary; and Ben Miller–Press Reporter. Other members are Anthony Boersma, Jock Gemmell, Mitchell Haw, Aaron Kuorikoski, Jared McQuaker, Tegan Miller, Lucas Nussbaumer.
The second meeting of the United Beef Club was held at Ben and Tegan Miller’s on Thursday, May 13th. Members discussed what things to look for in choosing a Market Steer or a Breeding Heifer. They also studied the equipment needed to properly show an animal by sorting through a tack box and talking about the relevance of each piece. They then reviewed the different methods of halter breaking our animals. Then they went outside to practice judging. All had to look at four heifers and judge which one was the best.
The third meeting was held at the home of Mitchell Haw on Monday, May 24th with eight members in attendance. They learned about the grading system in Canada, which is fairly complicated to explain here, but basically they reviewed what the letters and numbers represented, how they graded the fat, the marbling content and the yield; which is how much meat comes off the bone. Members were given some graphs and charts that helped to explain the grading system and how it works.
The club’s fourth meeting is scheduled for Saturday June 19th at 9:00 a.m.