For the Shank sisters, Washington County Ag Expo & Fair a family tradition

Farming and 4-H competitions are routine in the Shank family.

Aubrey Shank, 18, and Caroline Shank, 17, are fourth-generation 4-H farmers exhibiting at the Washington County Agricultural Exposition and Fair this week. They have participated in 4-H since they were 8 years old.

The sisters’ great-grandmother, a 4-H graduate, has volunteered with 4-H for almost 50 years.

“They are a wonderful family that has contributed a lot to the ag community and also to our 4-H and FFA programs here in the county,” 4-H educator Ashley Travis said.

4-H is a youth development program where kids between 5 and 18 years old work on projects related to building life skills, Travis said. For many 4-H students, including the Shank sisters, their projects are raising livestock, exhibiting them and selling them at the Ag Expo.

Starting 4-H to owning a small business

Aubrey Shank joined the local Future Farmers of America chapter when she started high school, after being a part of 4-H. FFA students exhibit alongside the 4-H farmers at the Ag Expo.

The sisters say their programs have taught them responsibility. The sisters each own their own small business while on their family farm, Blackstone Farm in Boonsboro. They manage a bank account, buying and selling the livestock with their own money.

“We have our own business, we have our own animals, we learn how to raise them all the way up until they're ready to be sold,” Caroline Shank said. “It's a unique community experience that a lot of people don't get to have.”

The sisters raised pigs and other smaller animals until they were allowed to raise their large cows two years into the program. At the 2023 Ag Expo, the sisters are each exhibiting two beef steers and two pigs.

Caroline started raising beef steers when she was very young. At this age, she was so little that she was once dragged across a pasture by her cow.

“The first year was a little crazy because beef steers are very heavy and they sometimes can be a little bit temperamental when you first get them when they're not used to people,” Caroline said.

Over time, Caroline said she has learned how to make the steers calm and how to handle them more efficiently. Now, she feels comfortable letting little kids pet her livestock.

The cows they have at the Ag Expo were raised to be beef steers and are between 1,285 and 1,325 pounds.

Aubrey is also a part of the North American Junior Limousin Association that gives her the opportunity to show her cows all around the country. The 18-year-old recently showed a heifer at the junior nationals in South Dakota.

At past Ag Expos, Aubrey has won a senior showmanship award and multiple steer breed divisions.

She said competitions are a way to show off the hard work farmers put into their animals, and it gives younger 4-H farmers drive.

“It helps to be more competitive and for you to put in your all,” Aubrey Shank said.

Raising animals to feed others

The beef steers will be sold at the Market Sale on Thursday. While other children at the fair were upset at the looming market sale, the Shank sisters said they try to not get attached to their animals.

“My mindset the whole way through raising them is that we're raising them for beef products and to feed other people,” Caroline Shank said.

Aubrey agreed, saying that for steers and pigs raised to be sold for meat, she tries to not get attached to them. However, she is able to get attached to her heifers because she never has to sell them.

The sisters bought their steers in November of 2022 and the family’s pigs have been theirs since early spring.

Aubrey and Caroline both said they want to have another career on top of working on the farm.

More: Top 5 things to do at the Washington County Ag Expo and Fair

“It's such a big part of my life and my family's lives that I would love to continue doing it into the future,” Aubrey Shank said.

Isaiah Shank, 13, is Aubrey and Caroline’s younger brother. He raises pigs through the 4-H program.

The siblings make a theme for their livestock’s names every year, this year they went with characters from the cartoon “Bluey.” Isaiah Shank said the family all watched the cartoon together.

Aubrey said she would want people not in the world of agriculture to know how much hard work goes into raising livestock.

“Without farmers, we wouldn't be anywhere. Try to educate yourself and grow appreciation for what the small 1% of the population is doing for everyone in the world,” Aubrey Shank said.

More about the Washington County Ag Expo and Fair

The Ag Expo and Fair continues through July 22 at the Washington County Agricultural Education Center, 7313 Sharpsburg Pike, about 7 miles south of Hagerstown.

Tuesday is Senior Citizen Day, where those 65 and older get in free. It's also Farm Bureau Day, where those who are members get in free with membership card.

Carnival rides open at 5 p.m. There will be live music, bull riding, demolition derbies and other fair fun throughout the week.

For more information, visit agexpoandfair.org.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Sister steer farmers carry on Shank family tradition at Ag Expo