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Get Away
A cow's best friend
[Times photo: Skip O’Rourke]
C’mon little dogies. Amy Suralis, 17, of Seffner, will be putting her cows up for competition in the Florida State Fair, opening today. Her story and complete schedule of events.
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They may be a bit large, and they don't smell like talcum powder, but this Seffner teen lovingly cares for her babies.
By LANE DeGREGORY
© St. Petersburg Times
published February 6, 2003
SEFFNER -- In the fading light of a warm January night, Amy Suralis squats in muddy straw, holding a baby bottle. Black and white cows are side-stepping around her, trying to get to their supper. A caramel-colored calf is nuzzling against her shoulder, sucking the bottle.
[Times photo: Skip O’Rourke]
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Amy Suralis, a high school junior from Seffner, will be trading her warm bed for a cot at the Florida State Fair, where Harmony, this Brown Swiss, will be among the cows she will be showing. |
"This is Dusty. She was born Dec. 1. She's my baby," Amy says, rubbing the calf's soft nose. "She's a Jersey. She's the great-granddaughter of my first cow ever."
Amy is only 17. She's already raised three generations of prize-winning cows.
While her friends are studying for math tests, playing video games and meeting at the movies on Friday nights, Amy is here at her mom Mary's house, walking five shady acres she and her sister named the Sunflower Farm. Amy helped build the fences, feed troughs and holding pens here. She has helped bring more than a dozen prize-winning cows into this world.
Every morning, every afternoon, on weekends, before and after working at an Eckerd drugstore, before and after swim meets, Amy is with her animals. Feeding them. Bathing them. Giving them shots. "I can't sleep over at friends' houses because the cows might need me. I spent Christmas morning out here. I've had to miss school and tests and parties because of them," says the honors student at Durant High. "Not all my friends understand. But for me, this is as normal as brushing my teeth."
The next two weeks will be the busiest of Amy's year. Besides the regular routine, she has to shave six of her cows, add extra milkings and make sure they'll follow her around the ring. She has to get her herd ready for the big show.
The Florida State Fair starts today.
Amy didn't grow up on a farm. But she grew up wanting cows.
Her mom is an agriculture teacher at Mann Middle School in Bradenton, where Amy first got to see ducks, chickens and goats. She went with her mom to county and state fairs, to help her students show farm animals.
And she fell in love with cows.
"I don't know why. Something about them just seems so gentle. They're adorable," she says of the 1,400 pound animals. "Some of them have personalities almost like humans."
When Amy was little, her mom helped her show lambs and pigs. "All the money I made from those prizes, I saved for my cow," she says. When Amy was 7, her mom moved to Seffner and bought five acres off Valrico Road. Amy bought her first cow that summer. "I paid $150 of my own money for her," Amy says. "A sweet Jersey heifer I named Scarlett. I picked her out myself."
Fair officials from across Florida judge eight kinds of farm animals: steer, swine, beef, dairy, sheep, goat, rabbit and poultry. Children in 4-H and Future Farmers of America bring their animals to county and state competitions to show them off and compete for prize money. Winning cows can bring home $20 to $55, depending on the category.
Amy has won ribbons and trophies, money and scholarships with her herd. Last year, she was named Florida State Champion of Champions with her favorite cow, a Brown Swiss called Cheyenne. Because of that honor, she was invited to speak at the State Fair Youth Seminar at a statewide agriculture teachers' convention, and at several Future Farmers of America functions. She won't be allowed to win another Champion of Champions trophy. But she's hoping Cheyenne will be chosen grand champion again. "She's 5," Amy says. "This might be her last year."
After next year, Amy will have to retire, too. She can't compete in the youth division once she's out of high school. But this cowgirl doesn't plan to abandon her animals. She has already won a scholarship to study dairy science and nutrition at the University of Florida. "I just can't imagine my world without cows," she says.
Next week, a few days before judging, Amy will herd six of her 13 cows into a trailer. She and her mom will drive them to the state fairgrounds. Amy will set up a cot in the barn behind the Charlie Lykes Arena, spread out her sleeping bag, and hope the nights aren't too cold.
"When you're showing, you usually have to spend all night with the cows, do extra milkings, so the udder looks just right," she says, standing up with the empty baby bottle. "You don't want it to be too full, or it looks swollen. But you want it to have some milk in it, so it presents well."
In the Holstein Heifer Class 1 category, usually 30 to 40 calves compete. Their owners lead them on leather halters around a wide ring, single-file, clockwise. After inspecting all the animals, which sometimes takes two hours, judges line the potential winners along one end.
They grade dairy cows in four categories: Frame, feet and legs, character and body capacity. "That's how deep the barrel of their chest is," Amy says, hugging her arms around a young jersey named Nutmeg. "They look at the spring of their ribs."
Some farmers won't let their children name animals -- especially not those destined for the fair. You don't want to bond with something you're just going to have to sell, they say.
Amy names all her babies. She sells the young bulls. But she keeps almost all her girls.
"I'm not necessarily worried about Cheyenne winning next week. I mean, it would be nice for her, one last time. But you never know about the competition," Amy says.
She pets her new calf goodnight, walks out of the square fenced pen and shuts the gate. It's dark now -- only the cows' eyes are gleaming above the straw.
"I mean, anyone can buy a $2,000 Brown Swiss and show it at the fair," she says. "But I know where this one came from, and where her mom came from.
"These are my cows."
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