Day In The Life of A Junior Beef Competitor
To celebrate Canada’s Agriculture Day, we’re presenting the tail of how we came to experience Canada’s bright agriculture future and the kids making it happen.
We had the ultimate backstage experience with Canada Beef during the 100th anniversary of the Royal Winter Fair as we got to enjoy a behind-the-scenes peek at how a Junior Beef competitor gets ready for a competition!
For two days, we accompanied Ava Noonan, a 15-year-old Junior Beef Competitor, as she prepared for and participated in the Showmanship Competition at The Royal Winter Fair’s Masterfeeds National Junior Beef Heifer Show. We were amazed as we witnessed this young competitor’s enthusiasm, determination, and work ethic as she prepared her heifer for the show. Steaks were high, but Noonan’s competitive spirit and years of expertise kept her calm, composed, and ready to compete.
From amoosing grooming techniques to udderly chaotic pre-competition preparation, check out the video below to discover just how fun and intense things got behind the scenes!
Our Day With Ava
Interview With Ava Noonan
How long does it take to groom your cow for showing/competing?
“It all depends on what you want to do on the morning of the show, and so for me, I’ve learnt to go pretty quick because at fairs, you have less time. It can take anywhere from 15 minutes to half an hour, but it really depends on what you want to do.”
How long in advance do you start preparing for a competition?
“We start preparing a couple of months after the heifer is born; we start by halter-breaking them and just a lot of practice. We want to keep working with them as much as we can, and we never want to fall away from that. We want to keep it in the animal’s mind that this is what we do, and we don’t want them to fall out of that. After we start, we stick to it!”
What is your favourite thing about working with your heifer?
“My favourite thing about working with her is the results. It takes a lot to work with them, and I just get happy seeing them learn and work with me.”
What is one thing being in this competition has taught you?
“It has taught me so much. I guess not to give up. I would say to anyone, don’t ever give up because you can be at the top one day, and you can fall down the next day but don’t give up just because of that.”
Who inspired you to start competing?
“My mom, my mom 100% when I was 7 or 8 years old, she would tell me what she would do when she was younger and tell me how she really wanted me to do it because it was so fun, and then I went in it, and I love it, and I’ve just been following in the footsteps of my mom, my uncle’s footsteps and my grandma’s footsteps.”
How did you learn to take care of your heifer and prepare her for competition?
“Just learning from people, I’ll go up to them and ask what I can do to get better and what I should change and again, it was my mom and uncle who has taught me like everything that I needed to do and top people who have been in my life for a long time I’ll ask them questions. I’m constantly trying to figure out new ways to do better. I’m also going to continue asking a lot of questions.”
How do you overcome your nerves before a competition?
“This ones a big one. I guess I just take deep breaths. I kind of like the nervousness because it sets me in a zone, and then as soon as I enter the ring, it all just settles, and I’m like, okay, I need to calm down, and then I take a deep breath and tell my heifer and myself that we got this and were going to do this.”
What is your favourite thing about competing?
“I guess it’s just being in the ring. I love showing. I love it so much. I love cooperating with my heifer and any calf that I am showing, and I just love being in there and concentrating. I just love it.”
What is one piece of advice you would give to a young rancher looking to get into competing?
“Like I said before, don’t give up. I would love for them to start trying to be in 4-H and just showing in general because it is so much fun, and you meet so many people. And don’t ever be afraid to reach out to others to like say hi or say you’re doing a good job or anything because people will know you by that, and they will always come up to you and talk to others about how nice you are. So yeah, talk to others and never give up; keep going!”
How important is heifer care in competing?
“So this all is about these animals. We do everything for these animals, and it’s just about them. We try our hardest to make sure they’re comfortable, and we make sure that they’re always getting what they need. If one gets sick, we always make sure we’re there for them, and we’ll put so much work into them, and we’ll always make sure they’re comfortable.”
A special thank you goes out to the Noonan family, Canada Beef and The Royal Winter Fair for organizing this exclusive behind-the-scenes experience and helping us to highlight such incredible talent! For more information on the entertaining and informative projects Canada Beef has supported throughout the years, click here.