Harper Marie Perkins, a 10 -year-old Newcastle 4-H member, was awarded Third Place All-Around Novice Individual at the American Junior Brahman Association’s 2023 All-American. The award was presented after a week of competitions in Texarkana, Arkansas, from June 25 - July 1, 2023.
Harper won the prestigious All-Around award by exhibiting her three registered Brahman heifers and competing in a variety of leadership events including Prepared Public Speaking, Sales Talk, Photography, Marketing and Herdsman Quiz. Harper placed in the top 10 in every category, a feat only duplicated by one other Novice competitor.
Her biggest win was having the Grand Champion photo in the Novice division with a photo of a Brahman bull nicknamed “Ho Ho,” owned by Glory Be Brahmans in Blanchard.
She also placed third in the Marketing Contest, fourth in Sales Talk, fifth in Prepared Public Speaking, and ninth in Herdsman Quiz. Harper also demonstrated her knowledge of Brahman cattle, breed history, and beef cattle husbandry by leading a team of eight and 10 year olds to the Reserve Championship in the Quiz Bowl Competition. Even though they were one of the youngest teams in the field of eight- to 13-year-old competitors, they won their first two brackets and only lost in the finals by two points.
The All-American is the largest event hosted by the AJBA each year and was attended by more than 300 exhibitors from 11 different states. This year’s Brahman show was one of the largest since its inception in 1980 with almost 1,100 cattle entries.
