Holmes County Bred a big plus for fair

Miley Snow was honored to earn the Holmes County Bred grand champion steer and said raising an animal she knows was created right here in Holmes County was something she felt good about showing.

The West Holmes High School 2025 graduate captured her first grand champion, although this was the second time she has opted to go the route of Holmes County Bred, the first time being five years ago.

“Because this was my senior year, I wanted to bring things back to Holmes County,” Snow said. “I also raised a Holmes County pig. It was very important for me to support Holmes County breeders, and the people I bought my steer from are the same people who have helped me all five years showing my beef steers. I felt it was very important to put a spotlight on them as well.”

Her steer came from Montgomery Cattle Company, owned by Gretchen and Mitch Montgomery.

This fall Snow will attend Wilmington College to major in ag education, with her sights set on an extremely noble goal.

“I am going to minor in special education,” Snow said. “My goal is to bring an ag program to schools like the Holmes County Board of Developmental Disabilities. It wouldn't be to the extent of (West Holmes FFA adviser Jaime Chenevey's) program, but it would be an opportunity to bring something unique there.”

She said having graduated not only from WHHS, but also from the Holmes County 4-H program, next year's fair will take on a very different appeal because she won't have any animals to show. She did say her cousin will still be involved, so she will come and support her.

“It's going to be very different not having any animals here and the barn at home being empty,” she said. “It's been a part of my life for a long time.”

As for the Holmes County Bred brand at the fair, the circle of winners continues to develop. Included are categories of grand champions and reserve grand champions in market steer, market hogs, market lamb, dairy market goat and market meat goat.

Offering those honors to the 4-Hers is something that has been very beneficial to both the fair and those local breeders.

Local hogs are provided by Feikert Club Pigs and Strouse Show Pigs. Both enjoy providing quality animals to local 4-H youth.

“One of the things they developed this for was to offer kids who can't afford to go buy the high-dollar pigs to purchase something locally,” said Tim Feikert. “Eric and we are just about the only farms raising pigs in Holmes County anymore. It’s a good thing for the kids, and it's neat to see our kids staying right here in Holmes County, and it’s gratifying to see our pigs in there being shown.”

Feikert Club Pigs had 20 pigs, and Strouse Show Pigs added another 16 to the show, which featured more than 200 total swine during this year’s junior livestock show.

“We have a lot of competition here, and this only helps increase the competition,” Eric Strouse said. “It can level the playing field and give other kids a chance to come away with a grand or reserve champion. We've had some really great county animals do really well here at the fair over the past years, and it’s always exciting to see our Holmes County Bred animals doing well. There’s something special about that, and there's some real pride for us as breeders and for the kids who show and do well.”

Strouse said it would be fun to get several more county breeders involved to add to the mix of animals available to the kids.

Having local lambs and goats to purchase also provided youth with a much less expensive alternative to showing an animal.

“There's a real benefit to the Holmes County Bred because the kids get a sense of satisfaction and it also supports the local breeders, which is a big part of teaching our young people about the sense of community,” fair board member Keaton Lorentz said.

Holmes County Bred has provided an exciting addition to an already impressive lineup of junior livestock animals and showman.