Butterfield shows her Grand Champion Bull at the Denver Stock Show.
When Teagan Butterfield and her family decided to invest in 20 head of Gelbvieh heifers 10 years ago, she had no idea what she would accomplish and achieve in the following years.
Butterfield, a senior member of West Holt FFA in Atkinson, Neb., has been showing cattle since she was 8 years old. She currently shows at state, regional and national shows. Most recently, she showed the Grand Champion Gelbvieh Bull at the Denver Stock Show.
“It’s pretty cool knowing I raised that bull from my first show heifer and accomplished things people are trying to accomplish for 50 to 60 years of production in their cattle,” she says. “I did it in the first year.”
Butterfield had many obstacles to overcome throughout her journey, one of them being that she didn’t have her own family ranch. Because she didn’t own this land, it made it that much harder to train and work with her livestock.
“When I first started my [Supervised Agricultural Experience] SAE, my family didn’t run a ranch at the time. My brother came back from college, and we bought 20 head of Gelbvieh heifers,” she says. “When we brought them home, I decided I wanted to show cattle at the county fair. When I took them to the fair, no one there even knew what the Gelbvieh breed was.”
When Butterfield decided to quit sports to focus on her showing, her brother told her, “If you’re going to show cattle, you need to do it right,” and that’s exactly what she did.
Luckily, all of her hard work did not go to waste. Butterfield has had many accomplishments since then, including going to Gelbvieh Junior Nationals her first year and taking a heifer that won her class. Following that, she was called back to finals for showmanship. For the next several years, she had several class winners, was in the top 10 in showmanship, and was named Champion Gelbvieh Cow-Calf Pair at the Nebraska State Fair in 2022.
In addition to winning multiple national titles, Butterfield also holds a junior board position on the American Gelbvieh Junior Association Board of Directors. She credits much of her success to her family and friends, saying they gave her “endless support and motivation.” She says they helped make everything worth it in the end.
“My biggest advice would be to not look at other people’s SAEs — it’ll just scare you,” Butterfield adds. “You’re doing your own thing. You’re not buying $10,000 heifers your first year; you’re going to do what you can afford. Keep your eyes on our own SAE and grow it from there.”
West Holt FFA Advisor David Gibbens is also proud of Butterfield. “Teagan has used her beef SAE to become a leader in the Gelbvieh industry,” he says. “Through all of her hard work, she is recognized throughout the industry for her high-quality cattle.”
Butterfield plans on expanding her herd over the next few years and eventually having her own private sale. She would also love to see the offspring of her cattle go out and eventually win shows.
