Lauren Stewart
Age: 16
Family: Bob and Katie Stewart, and brother Seth Stewart, age 18
School: Junior at Buffalo High School
FFA Advisors: Cody Phillips and Chuck Simpson
Involvement in Agriculture: Lauren Stewart started showing goats when she was 7 years old. Her passion for agriculture and livestock stems from growing up on her family farm. The Stewart family has Shorthorn cattle, Boer goats, sheep, chickens and occasionally hogs. As long as she can remember, Lauren has helped with the daily farm chores. Her duties include collecting eggs, feeding hay, mixing feed and moving the livestock every couple of days to keep them on their rotational gazing schedule. Though she has showed prize goats, sheep and hogs, her favorite animal to compete with in a show ring is a heifer. “I absolutely love it. I get nervous before I go in the show ring and then when I get in there I feel calm because I know I am in my natural element,” said Lauren. She started in 4-H at age 8 and jumped in head first to FFA her freshman year in high school. Lauren currently serves as reporter for the Buffalo FFA Chapter. She is responsible for taking pictures and writing stories for all the Buffalo FFA activities. She also complies her FFA chapter’s scrapbook. Lauren attended the National FFA Convention this year. She is a member of the National and Junior Shorthorn Associations and National and Junior American Boer Associations.
Future Plans: After graduating high school Lauren plans to pursue a career as a dental hygienist or dental assistant. She also has her sights set on owning her own farm. “I am definitely going to have a farm with cattle, a mixture of Shorthorn and Simmental,” said Lauren.
Advice for Young Students: “Each animal has a different personality and you have to get used to it or it is not going to work for you. You have to spend time with them so they have the right attitude. I have really realized that with cattle,” said Lauren.
