19-year-old claims grand champions in two fair categories
By Jason Arndt
Staff Writer
Kelsey Henderson shed a few tears of joy and tightly embraced her family members after winning the title of Grand Champion steer July 30 at the Racine County Fair.
Henderson, a 2020 Union Grove High School graduate, called the accomplishment unforgettable and said she cannot wait to show her 1,360-pound beef crossbred steer named Bobby in the Governor’s Blue Ribbon Livestock Auction at the Wisconsin State Fair.
Taylor Himebauch, of Honey Creek Hoofers 4-H Club, won reserve Grand Champion with her 1,349-pound Simmental steer.
“It has an incredible week and there are no words for it,” said Henderson, a member of Union Grove FFA.
Henderson, however, didn’t only have a Grand Champion steer during the Racine County Fair.
On July 29, a day before she captured the steer title, Henderson won Grand Champion swine for a 272-pound crossbred pig she called Gunn, a name which came from the person who bred the animal.
Cooper Willis, from Union Grove FFA, captured reserve Grand Champion with 272-pound crossbred pig.
Henderson, who attends Iowa State University, said raising both livestock came with challenges and the project required teamwork with her family chipping in.
“I worked with my steer since last September, so that is a little bit longer time frame, but there is definitely a lot of effort that goes into both,” said Henderson. “Between all of our family members, we spent probably at least eight hours in the barn. It is a full-time job everyday.”
Henderson, the daughter of Craig and Sue, has a younger sister, Madisyn, who also took home a couple of showmanship titles at the County Fair.
Madisyn won the best in breed for her 1,267-pound Hereford beef steer. She also plans to show her steer at the State Fair.
The Kelsey Henderson, who will be a sophomore at Iowa State said she couldn’t have achieved her championships without her supportive family as well as countless others.
“I was lucky that my parents and my sister were home to hold down the fort,” Henderson said.
“It is definitely a family project and I wouldn’t be able to do it without them.”
To read the entire story and see a full list of the fair’s 2021 livestock winners, see this week’s editions of the Burlington Standard Press, Waterford Post and Westine Report.
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