Successful show season: Junior exhibitor sets goal to win points program

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — It took a team effort for Melinda Braun to reach her goal to become the Illinois Beef Association Points Show Program winner.

“It really all started last year at the Illinois Beef Expo,” said Melinda Braun. “I had two Hereford heifers in the grand drive out of four and I won the Champion Polled Hereford heifer award.

“My brother, Tyler, and I always set a yearly goal and I really wanted to chase the points and win it because I knew I was going to have a good year,” said the daughter of Bryan and Lisa Braun. “We tried our best and won, which is so exciting.”

Braun received a $1,000 check from the Illinois Beef Association during a presentation at the Illinois Beef Expo.

IBA recognized the following junior exhibitors during the event:

• Top Ten Heifer Points Show Program winners: Melinda Braun, Columbia; Grace Rincker, Strasburg; Maddey Tebbe, Pocahontas; Clayton Poppe, Jerseyville; Paige Lemenager, Hudson; Kade Gensini, Hennepin; Ashton Dillow, Villa Ridge; Kylie Gillespie, Toulon; Ashley Moore, Piasa; and Ashlyn Hickey, Mt. Pulaski.

• Top Ten Steer Points Show Program winners: Josh Middendorf, Waterloo; Sam Nightingale, Orion; Chet Gillespie, Toulon; Levi Hinshaw, Secor; Matthew Campbell, Carrollton; Tyson Gillespie, Toulon; Kashen Ellerbrock, Atkinson; Conor Cooper, Clinton; Cole Caldwell, Elmwood; and Jocelyn Krueger, Jerseyville.

The Braun family owns a 50-head registered Hereford cowherd. “We’re calving now and we have fall calving, too,” the junior exhibitor said. “My two heifers I showed last year just had bull calves.”

Some of their steers they sell to area 4-Hers to show and they also sell steers as freezer beef and on the fed market.

“My mom showed cattle when she was in 4-H so she’s had cattle for about 40 years now,” Braun said. “And my brother showed calves and I knew I wanted to follow in his footsteps.”

During the 2019 show season, Braun showed two Hereford heifers and two Simmental heifers. “We showed all over going from the top of the state to the bottom and I think we went to about 13 shows,” said Braun, 21.

In addition to the Illinois Beef Expo, Braun exhibited her cattle at jackpot shows, county fairs, the Illinois Hereford Preview Show and both the Illinois State Fair and the DuQuoin State Fair. “It took a crew including lots of friends,” Braun stated. “My mom and brother couldn’t go everywhere, so I tagged along sometimes with other people but we always got it done.”

At the Illinois State Fair, Braun showed the Reserve Champion Polled Hereford heifer. “I won with my bred and owned heifer and that was really exciting because I raised her,” she said. “At DuQuoin I showed the Reserve Champion Hereford heifer and fifth overall.”

At county fairs last year, Braun won lots of classes with her heifers as well as breed champion honors and Supreme heifer awards. “I love the competitiveness of showing, seeing new places and meeting new people,” she said.

Braun obtained her associate degree in science from Southwestern Illinois College in Belleville and currently attends Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, where she is studying accounting and business management.

“I really want to work for an accounting firm,” Braun said about her career goal. “And my end goal is to work for our family’s oil company. I work there now as a secretary and I plan to take that over one day.”

For more information about the Illinois Beef Expo, go to www.illinoisbeeef.com.