Atlanta teen racks up awards in livestock shows

By Ben Woods
bwoods@casscountynow.com

Local teen Lauren Burton is no average 14-year-old, and her heifer is no average bovine.
Burton  who recently won second place with her Black Angus heifer named Constance at the Fort Worth Livestock Show this January,  also has won many awards in 4-H.  
Burton who is from Atlanta has been a member in Texas 4-H for five years and has been showing cattle for three and a half years. In the past Burton has shown rabbits and chickens. 
“Cattle is really my passion,” Burton said. “I really want to promote leadership though my beef project.”
Burton plans on continuing on the livestock show circuit.
 “I plan on doing a lot more shows, and I am very excited about this year’s showing season,” she said.
Next month, Burton will be competing in the San Antonio Livestock show for the second time, and if she win, she will be awarded with a $10,000 scholarship. In March she will show at the Houston Livestock Show for the third time.
Burton has competed at the national level in livestock judging, quiz bowl, skill-a-thon, sales talk and team fitting. Last June at the National Brangus Show in Hattiesburg, Miss. Her sales talk team placed first in intermediate and second in intermediate livestock judging. 
Burton’s passion in 4-H is beef but she also has excelled in archery. June of 2016, she won first place in the genesis division, a division using compound bow with no sights, this was her first time competing in archery.
In the HOPE 4-H Club Burton serves as vice president but in the past years she has been secretary, treasurer, and county delegate. 
Burton’s foray into cattle started at home.
“My mom and dad raise cattle so they gave me my first heifer to get started and it was a bottle calf so I had to bottle feed it for a couple of days because the mother had mastitis,” she said “Then there was another momma cow that lost its calf, so it took the bottle calf in as its own.” 
Burton also shows other types of cattle she has two commercial Baldie heifers, red Brangus heifer, a Black Angus heifer and a registered Black Angus heifer.
Burton attended a Texas Junior Angus Association (TJAA) meeting in Fort Worth for the livestock show then applied for a position on TJAA and was able to become a director. 
 “I am very excited about the position,” Burton said, “there were some committees we talked about and I was able to be on the T-shirt design committee for the state show”. As a director of the TJAA she will be working under the officers and helping out with the events. 
 Lauren said she is happy to help anyone get started showing cattle. 
“There were two girls in the 4-H club interested in showing livestock so at our winter show I was able to loan them a couple of commercial heifers and that would hopefully give them a start and get them interested in showing livestock,” Burton said.
 “They were able to come out to my house and work with the heifers and get the heifers used to them getting them used to getting them set up with a show stick and washing them and clipping them and all that stuff.”
Burton’s love for animals doesn’t stop at livestock she also assists the Atlanta Animal League as a foster for homeless animals. 
Burton wants to promote the upcoming Cass County 4-H Second Annual Livestock Clinic that is hosted by Cass 4-H Youth Council. It will be held at the Cass County Ag Expo Feb. 11 from 2-5 p.m. 
Topics will cover livestock selection and judging of heifers, steers, goats and lambs. 
There will be many tables with all the projects that 4-H has to offer such as shooting sports, archery, Cass County youth council, horse club, forestry, wildlife, food and nutrition, clothing and textiles and much more. RSVP to Cass County Extension Office by Feb. 3 at 903-756-5391.