Anna Conrad is one of many who shows livestock at the Florida Strawberry Festival.
Kathryn Moschella
Tampa Bay Times
Anna Conrad is no stranger to showing livestock around the country.
She has traveled to fairs and festivals in Texas, Tennessee, Mississippi and Kentucky with her third-generation farming family, showing their purebred shorthorn cattle.
But the Florida Strawberry Festival, by far, is nearest to her heart, and not just because its virtually in the Dover teenager’s backyard.
Conrad is a Plant City High School senior and the school’s Future Farmers of America chapter president and two-time district representative. She intends to make her family and the FFA proud when she shows her 10th heifer and fourth steer in March at the festival.
The 18-year-old cattle woman said she especially enjoys being a part of the livestock competition because the community comes out and supports its youth.
“You certainly know everyone you’re showing with, and most of them are my friends, so that’s what makes it different from any other show I’ve been to,” Conrad said. “There’s a competitive edge to it, but it’s a friendly competition so that makes it a lot of fun.”
Conrad’s heifer won Grand Champion in 2014 and her steer won First Division Championship in 2015. Working closely with her show animals and seeing that their individual needs are met is an 11-month regimen that starts in April and ends the following March.
The showing of steers and heifers is similar to a beauty pageant, Conrad said. It’s all about presentation and getting the cattle to look and act their best. During the course of the training period, she bathes the animals three times a week, rinses and brushes their hair daily and gets them used to the show-stick and halters and the pattern of walking together in the ring. Through it all, Conrad uses gentle actions and communicates softly with the animals to gain their trust.
Inevitably, it’s impossible not to develop a relationship with the animals, and she admits to shedding a few tears when the showing is over.
“It’s a cycle. It’s the way it works, and I’ve accepted that,” Conrad said. “One day they’re going to do their job, and you have to do your job. They’re market animals and not pets, and you have to remember that.”
Some of the money from the sale of her steers has been set aside in an account which Conrad uses to raise future show animals.
Contact Kathryn Moschella at hillsnews@tampbay.com.
