Callan Nix has been working towards this moment for the last year – showing her 1,119-pound American calf at the State Fair of Texas.
“Ever since we started our operation,” Nix said. “It’s all on the line right then and there.”
What does it take to breed and show an award-winning steer?
“I’ve been working with him every single day to get him to this point,” Nix said. And this point is the Livestock Show at the State Fair of Texas.
“Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve always been in the pastures,” Nix recalled. “Helping my dad, and also my aunt and grandpa.”
Born and raised on a fifth-generation working cattle and hay operation, the 18-year-old senior at Tolar High School has been showing steers since third grade.
“We love the land and we do love the animals,” said Dalton Nix, Callan’s father. “We’re doing the best we can to be responsible stewards of nature.”
Dalton Nix accompanies his daughter to shows around the state. “We view what we do as a family legacy,” he said.
On this day, that legacy rests with Nix’s steer, named Dallas.
“Dallas is a little bit stubborn,” Callan Nix said. “So, we’ll see how he does out there.”
The goal is to get the judge in the ring to like Dallas and declare him the best steer so he can be sold for the highest price.
“There’s a lot on the line within those three minutes that the judge sees him,” Callan Nix said.
Soon enough, it’s time, and with dad watching, Callan Nix and Dallas step into the ring.
First pass — a glance from the judge and no luck. But there’s a second pass, and the judge returns to Dallas to look him over. Unfortunately, no luck there either — the pair ‘got the gate’ — insider speak for not being chosen by the judge.
“It’s humbling,” Callan Nix said. “It kind of keeps me grounded.”
Showing steers has taught her life lessons beyond just business acumen.
“I take a step back and I’m like, ‘Okay, how am I going to set myself up for the next show to be successful?'” Callan Nix said.
She said she learned some important lessons from her father.
“I’ve always told my kids,” Dalton Nix said. “It’s easy to win and it is extremely difficult sometimes, to learn how to lose.”
But those lessons may be even more of a legacy than the thousands of acres back home in Tolar. Tolar is about an hour southwest of Fort Worth.
“He also sets a great example of what it looks like to work hard,” Callan Nix said of her father. “What it looks like to have perseverance.”
Plus, he’s instilled a love of the land in his daughter.
“Without farmers and without this industry,” Dalton Nix said. “There wouldn’t be food on the plate for the world to consume.”
And even though Callan Nix may be sad when she inevitably has to part ways with Dallas, knowing where he’ll end up, she reminds herself it’s for a bigger purpose.
“It’s to feed hungry people,” she said. “Also, to teach me a lesson of how I can become a better person.”