Hi, my name is Mercedes Ferree, and I am 15 years old and from Sullivan, Indiana. I am the youngest child of Mitch and Amber Ferree. I have three older brothers, William, Ross, and Houston. Besides growing up on a grain and cattle operation, I’ve also been very involved on my high school tennis team and high school dance team. My family has had ties to Sullivan for many decades. Our cattle herd now consists of mainly Angus, Simmental’s, and Shorthorns. We currently run around 80 cows and flush the top end. All of my brothers and I have been active in 4H among the years. My family and I exhibited cattle at our first major show at the 2018 National Junior Angus Show in Madison, Wisconsin, and at that show, my heifer, Abby, won her class, and my family felt as if we were on cloud 9. In addition to the NJAS we have exhibited at many other shows at the state and national level. There is no better program in the world than the junior breed programs! We exhibit cattle not just for the competition but for the relationships in the industry and numerous life lessons that it has taught us. Houston and I have exhibited cattle at the last seven National Junior
Angus shows. This year we went back to Madison and exhibited the Grand Champion Owned Heifer, and we were truly on cloud 9. This has been one of my family’s goals since the first time we stepped in the ring, but never did we imagine we would be able to reach this. Having six years left of showing cattle at the National Junior Angus Show, we are excited to start transitioning to showing cattle in the bred and owned division as well. After I age out of the junior shows I plan on attending a university to be able to learn more about finance and maybe try and walk on to a college tennis team. Whenever our herdsman Tim Fitzgerald saw this heifer, which I call Domino, he told my dad that she could be very special, and whoa, was he right. Not only has the heifer been special to us, but the Foster family has also been special to us. Whenever Domino was picked, it was like everything had just stopped. Looking up and seeing how happy and excited my parents were was so awesome. It was also awesome being
smile on his face while he was showing his own heifer. There were so many emotions and hugs that I’ll never forget. There have been so many people who have helped us get to this point, from the breeders, to the state associations, to the people in the wash rack. Thank you to my mom and dad for allowing us to be a part of this industry and for being our biggest supporters. Thank you to my brothers for always being there by my side and being my best friends. Thank you, Tim, and the whole Ferree Fitzgerald crew, for making these long weeks fly by. Thank you to the National Junior Angus Board for putting on an event that we look forward to going to every year. Last but not least, thank you to the Seldom Rest crew and Chance Myers for helping us get Domino to look her best. ●
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able to share the moment
with my brother, Houston, seeing the
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