The number of entries at this years beef show at the Geary County Free Fair may have been down from years past, but the quality of the beef was what really impressed this years Judge.

Chuck Otte, Geary County Research and Extensions Agent explained that he talked to the Judge following the Beef Show Tuesday night and was told that the 4-Her’s presented some quality beef this year despite the low number of entries.

“The real encouraging thing is we had 15 4-Her’s in the bucket calf project and that’s where a lot of the younger kids, that’s where they start,” said Otte. “They take a bucket calf, it’s a smaller animal, they learn how to take care of an animal, how to show an animal, what the parts of an animal are and a lot of those kids then grow up and they start bringing in full fledge market steers. It’s a nice progression, I’m encouraged by it and the quality of it is very, very good.”

This years Grand Champion for Overall Showmanship was Kati Fehlman of the Lyon Creek 4-H Club. During showmanship the Judge switched things up a little bit by having each contestant show one of the other contestants steers, in order to test the contestants overall showmanship skills.

“I’ve never really done that before, but you have to be prepared for whatever the Judge throws at you,” said Fehlman.

The Geary County Free Fair is back in action Wednesday with the swine and sheep show highlighting the schedule. The fair is being held on the Geary County Fairgrounds located just off Spring Valley Road on Junction City’s west side.