SYRACUSE – Signs of the coronavirus pandemic were obvious at the Otoe County fair’s beef show Thursday,  but FFA champion Sydney Wellsandt and show judge Melissa Buehler were glad it was held.

Wellsandt: “We have never won the whole thing. We’ve gone reserve years ... almost five years in a row we got reserve, so winning felt great.”

Wellsandt, who raised her FFA champion steer named Willie near Unadilla, will be a senior this year at Syracuse High School. She said she is glad the coronavirus pandemic did not force cancellation of the show.

Wellsandt: “I’m very glad we did it. Going into this week I was a little unsure about how everything was going to work out, but, obviously, it turned out better than we all expected.”

 Judge Melissa Buehler, who grew up showing in 4-H and FFA and raises purebred Herefords at Fairbury, called the 4-H grand champion “an elegantly made show steer.” She picked Griffin Goering’s 1,238-pound calf  over Izzy Stubbendick’s 1420-pound steer despite its nearly 200 pound advantage.

For supreme market beef, the massive FFA steers won out.

 

 

Buehler: “I’ve always known there are some real good quality cattle here in Otoe County and I was excited to get the call to be able to come down and judge this fair because I knew it would be a good set of calves and I knew it would be a good set of kids to work with.”

Buehler feels it is important this summer to give youth a chance to show their livestock projects.

Buehler: “I think it’s wonderful that the extension as able to pull off all of these county fairs throughout Nebraska.

 

  I know it’s a little bit different set up than normal, but I’m really glad they were able to do it and I was happy come judge.”

  Kadyn Sisco showed the 4-H show’s top breeding heifer and Tristan Sisco showed the reserve.