It's a Simmental Summer

Words by Bruce Derksen. Images by AgPlus Photography and Top Stock.

Stella Mader and Levi Martin sweep the Summer Synergy Supreme show with their Simmental projects.

The week of Summer Synergy at the Regional Exhibition Grounds in Olds, Alberta was once again a whirlwind of activity for young exhibitors and their beef projects as immense efforts were made to present both the four and two legged competitors in the best possible light. For 11-year-old Stella Mader of Carstairs, Alberta and 16-year-old Levi Martin of Stettler, Alberta, the finale wrapping up the week's festivities saw the two walk away with the Supreme Champion Purebred Female and Supreme Champion Commercial Female honours respectively.

Stella Mader and Mader Violet 49H

Stella receives congratulations with mom Jill on her Supreme win with Violet 49H.

Image by Top Stock

Stella’s route to the finals saw her and her heifer, Mader Violet 49H first selected as Champion Purebred Simmental Female giving them the berth into the Supreme Championships to finish the event.

Mader Ranches is home to approximately 300 Simmental and SimAngus cows. Parents Ryley and Jill, along with Stella and younger brother Hawkin farm together with Ryley’s parents, Randy and Ronda. The family holds an annual bull sale on the 3rd Friday in February and a female sale each October.

Stella competed in 4H until last year when she and Hawkin entered the High Stakes Junior Beef Club, a new organization started in part by the Maders along with other family relatives. The new association accommodates ages 7 through 18, thus Hawkin was able to take part.

Violet is an embryo calf out of LFE BS Violet 641A, herself a Farmfair Champion Female. Together with their partners, the Maders purchased a share of the cow from Lewis Farms of Spruce Grove, Alberta.

“We bought Violet’s mom quite a few years ago as a donor cow and two years ago we sold her,” says Jill Mader. “We were very sad and had done really well with her. But she was a big piece of our breeding program, and as a partnership cow, we eventually let her go so we could build on other cows.”

The younger Violet is sired by TJSC Boone Pickens 46C, a son of the legendary Remington Lock N Load 54U.

Stella and the family liked Violet right from the beginning as dad Ryley had his eye on her as a young calf. She quickly became a family favourite and due to this, was retained for showing rather than sold.

“She’s our new Violet and has the Mader name. There’s a lot of pride when you can put your own name in front of a winning heifer,” Jill expressed.

Her first win came in Lloydminster last fall where she claimed Reserve Champion Heifer Calf. This summer, Hawkin showed her and won Grand Champion Female in their local club show and from there they traveled to Summer Synergy, where

Hawkin and Violet won the Jackpot and Pee Wee shows. Being too young to enter the open portion of the competition, Stella took the lead, and she and Violet claimed the Champion Purebred Simmental Female and Supreme Champion Purebred Female titles.

During the Supreme Championship, Violet was a handful for Stella to control. “She wasn’t acting very nice,” complained Stella. “I was pretty frustrated with her. She wanted to go back to the stall and was being the sassy heifer who knows what she wants.”

When it came to decision time, Judges Justin Morrison, Kyle O’Neill and Rodney Hollman had a tough chioce to make with so many quality animals competing.

“I got lucky to win,” declared Stella. “It’s mostly the animal they look at, but the handler still has to do a good job. I think I got lucky to win,” she laughed.

Jill adds they plan to keep Violet and continue showing her, possibly as a cow/calf pair.

“We’ve flushed her once already and we’ll continue to do that. She’ll go into the donor program at our place so we can try to duplicate her,” she explained.

Stella plans to use the gift card she won to buy more show supplies and to share her cash winnings with Hawkin as they both worked hard with Violet.

“The favorite part of Summer Synergy for me was showing Violet,” said Stella. “I really like showing and want to keep doing it. I love going to Summer Synergy because my friends are there, and I get to show my animals.”

Levi Martin and CHM Luna 21F

16-year-old Levi Martin’s Summer Synergy experience was also filled with highlights as his 3-year-old commercial Simmental female CHM Luna 21F (Luna) and her calf Raya took centre stage. Luna was selected Champion 4H Female, Champion Commercial Simmental Female and finally took the top honors of Supreme Commercial Female.

Levi and his parents, Dwayne and Paula Martin, along with sister Trinity, operate Martin Cattle Services in the Stettler, Alberta area. After moving from the Warburg region, the family built up their present farm, raising a mixture of Charolais, Angus and Simmental cattle. The Martins show out of the Hastings Coulee 4H Beef Club where Levi says the competition is fierce, but friends and fun are plentiful.

Luna was purchased as a calf by the Martins from Chase Miller of Miller Livestock, Cremona, Alberta.

“I liked her when I first saw her but was a little skeptical because she was a younger calf—March born,” said Levi. “When we bought her, she was a little smaller, not the biggest female in the pen they had, and maybe not having the sheer power of the others. But I think as she’s come on, she’s started to put more spring of rib and stoutness in and she’s remained very nice fronted.” Her first major win came as a yearling at the Summer Synergy Jackpot Heifer Show where she claimed the Reserve Champion title. This summer, Luna nabbed Reserve Champion honors at the local Hastings Coulee 4H exhibition and Champion Commercial Female in the Regional show.

Levi believed Luna had a decent chance during the Commercial Simmental Female show at Synergy but admits it was a happy and surprising situation when the win actually happened.

Later, during the Supreme Commercial Female competition, as judge Danny Skeels passed by Luna and Raya, Levi asked if there was anything wrong with his animal, what it might be. “I like to ask judges this question if I can,” Levi said. “Mr. Skeels told me there was absolutely nothing wrong with her and if she had been a purebred, she might be at his farm. There’s always worry for me, but I thought we had a good chance to win. I knew we were in the hunt, at least in the top three, as there were some other really nice cattle in the ring.” For the win, Levi took home a buckle and $500, along with a pair of buckle boards for the successes earlier in the week. He’s thankful to Summer Synergy and provincial 4H for putting on the show because he understands how tough the past year has been. “Luna is definitely going to end up in our cow herd. She’s a keeper and the keystone of my herd. I’d say she’s the nicest commercial cow I’ve ever had. Since I’m thinking about going into purebred Simmental, I’m going to take her genetics and keep breeding them purebred until I get a purebred out of them and go from there.”