Heifer Of The Year Contest Underway In Idaho

Following the success of last year’s effort, the Idaho Cattle Association’s Heifer of the Year contest has returned for 2025.  ICA purebred council chairman Chase Lanting says this contest is aimed at encouraging young people to engage with the beef industry and consider a future as a producer.

“It's hard to get into the beef industry nowadays, costs are high, it's tough for them," he said.  "So, this contest is a real nice way to just give them a foot in the door and see if we can't get the ball rolling for them to give them a Heifer, and it's a good quality Heifer, and hopefully they can produce something and get things going for them and can make a positive impact in the beef industry.”

Contest Works To Connect Young People With The Industry

He added this educational competition introduces students to the role of cattle in everyday life and encourages exploration of careers in agriculture.  Young people, grades 7-12, interested in participating will complete a written exam, made up of true/false, multiple-choice and essay questions, designed to assess the kid’s knowledge of agribusiness and the cattle industry.

Lanting added there are many ways cattle producers, and non-cattle producers can help with the contest, such as scholarships.

“We have cash donations, which would go to purchase the Heifer from the rancher. There's also donations in many other ways, feed supplements," he said.  "You know, once this kid has this animal in their yard, they got to feed it, they got to make sure it's healthy, they got to do all those things and let alone breed it and produce offspring. So, that first year for that kid is it is pretty difficult. Yeah, you got a Heifer, but you also got some other burdens. So, donations are gladly accepted and pushed through to the kids.”

Student Interest Form Due Next Month

Students interested in participating in the Heifer of the Year program are asked to fill out This Form.  The due date for applications is Monday September 15th.

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