SIBLEY, Iowa | Fresh off a grand champion effort in the halter exercise, Jill Berkland dismounted her horse, Sonny, and headed to the Sibley-Ocheyedan FFA Lunch Stand for a bite to eat.
This was the opening day of the Osceola County Fair and maybe the last chance for Berkland, a junior to-be at Sibley-Ocheyedan High, to catch her breath.
The next day would see Berkland hopping from the pig show to the dog-agility exercise to the dairy goat show to another horse show. A cow-calf show would follow that.
The "meat" of Friday's fair slate consisted of the beef show, at which Berkland would who a feeder calf, a heifer calf, a breeding heifer and a lead steer.
"Friday night I'll watch the mini rodeo," she said.
And catch her breath, presumably.
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If the veritable dance card for this 4-H member seems full, that's normal. And, it's what the daughter of Drs. Dan and Loretta Berkland (both are veterinarians who practice in Sibley) prefers. She's also a four-sport athlete for the Sibley-Ocheyedan Generals, taking part in volleyball, basketball, track and softball.
When softball ended in mid-July, it left a little spot for the Osceola County Fair.
"We start volleyball on Aug. 10," Berkland says.
She also participates in speech and band (French horn in concert band, mellophone in marching band) and served as president of her sophomore class.
The activity prepares her for a life of motion in what may one day be her job, a dream job, that is. "I really think it would be cool to one day have my own ranch and provide food for our country," she says.
Berkland's mission is to own her own ranch and work cattle with horses.
The fourth child of a pair of veterinarians is no novice. Beyond her skill with horses, she's shown skill in the barn, helping pull baby calves and dairy goats.
"I've pulled tons of calves," Berkland says, recalling how she once connected a chain to a calf's front two legs and then pulled gently to deliver the animal.
She also saddled up to help round up a wayward calf not that long ago, a ride that gave this 16-year-old a taste of what's to come.
To prepare for the Osceola County Fair, Berkland tried to ride Sonny, a 13-year-old, as much as possible. She also began working with her cows months in advance.
"You have to get a steer that weighs 1,390 pounds used to walking on the lead," she says.
In 2014, she remembers, her steer dragged her a bit and gave Berkland the sensation of skiing across the show ring. Two years ago, she had a steer that topped the fair scales at 1,500 pounds.
Little surprises her any longer. She's a seasoned veteran of the 4-H circuit, an Iowa State Fair participant since she was a fifth-grader.
The one surprise came in her first year. It happened when she noticed the word "market" written on a tag marking one of her cows.
"I cried and went to my dad and asked if it was going to market," she says. "He said it was."
That's often how it works. In a way, that's where the burgers come from that Berkland ends up serving from her post at the Sibley-Ocheyedan FFA Lunch Stand. It's likely where her steer, Thor, is headed not long after this fair season concludes. He's 1,390 pounds and, thanks to this future rancher and beef producer, he's ready.
