812-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 21,2001
A ‘Long’ Way To Winning Angus Honors
AIRVILLE (York Co.)
Hope Long knows how it feels to
stand at either end of a show cat
tle lineup.
“My first year of showing, I
stood at the bottom of a class of
seven,” relates this bubbly, out
going junior beef breeder. She re
turned to the show ring a year
later and took home a grand
champion steer title with her
Angus crossbred entry.
From a family room filled with
show photos, show banners, tro
phies, and show awards of all
sizes, the Airville young woman
relates how her eight years of
junior beef breeding and showing
have been a bit of emotional roll
er coaster ride.
“I’ve had my ups and downs,”
said Hope, IS, of the satisfaction
of having her show cattle do well
coupled with frustration at losing
some of them in painful circum
stances. Her second Angus heif
er, purchased toward her beef
breeding and herd building goals,
died of a lung tumor just a few
months after Hope brought her
home.
Two years ago, exhibiting her
first bred and owned heifer,
Hope was thrilled to earn su
preme champion honors at the
Queen Anne’s County Fair and
to win again at the York Fair.
When that prized heifer came
down with viral pneumonia and
died, the entire family, including
parents Sam and Vickie, and
younger twins Kim and Kurt,
mourned her death together.
Despite the emotional swings
that sometimes comes with live
stock breeding, the Long family
is dedicated to their herd of pure
bred Angus cows and the extra
mile effort they sometimes de
mand. Besides breeding and
showing, they support and par
ticipate in breed and industry ac
tivities and related organizations.
At the state Angus Associa
tion’s annual awards program,
held annually in January during
Farm Show week, Hope was
named one of the state’s Angus
princesses, while Kim, 12, was
selected to be an Angus sweet
heart. Along with Pennsylvania
Angus queen Samantha Beck,
Huntingdon County; princess
Eliza Walton, Chester County;
and sweetheart Katrina Frey,
Quarryville, Lancaster County,
the Long sisters help to represent
Hope, left, and Kim Long display some of their favorite show memorabilia. Hope
holds the large trophy she received in 1995 for her first champion steer and her award
for first bred and owned at the Atlantic National Angus show at Timonium last year.
Kim’s trophy was for exhibiting the grand champion steer at the 2000 Queen Anne’s
County fair.
the Angus breed at various shows
and events around the state.
After buying her first purebred
Angus heifer as a third-year 4-H
project, Hope began showing at
the state breed show, held annu
ally during July in Huntingdon
County. She quickly acquired
leadership roles in the group of
about 100 active, plus about an
equal number of less involved,
junior members. Hope current
handles the state’s junior associa
tion secretary position, along
with serving on various commit
tees.
Kim, too, has experienced
emotional highs and lows with
her beef animals. The second
cow she owned had a bull calf,
which she named Sonic. A show
ring pleaser, Sonic snagged
champion bull honors as a year
ling at the Timonium, Maryland
show. When Kim’s cow calved
back again, with a heifer, it died.
“But she made up for that
loss; she had twin heifers the
next time,” grins Kim, proud
owner of the only pair of twins
the Long herd has ever pro
duced.
Sam and Vickie Long both
grew up on Lancaster County
dairy farms and moved their
family to their Long View Acres
farm just east of the village of
Airville five years ago. The
farm’s 15-acres are cropped to
pasture for the beef herd, with
some grass hay taken off early in
the season.
Hope first enrolled as a 4-H’er
in Lancaster’s programs, and all
three Long children became ac
tive York County members with
the family’s move. Along with
their other projects, Hope and
Kim both participate in 4-H
meats judging programs. Hope
was a member of last year’s*
state-winning York County jun
ior meats judging team, while
placing as fourth-high individual
at 4-H State Days competition.
Kim, a sixth-grade student
with brother Kurt at Clearview
Elementary School, enjoys sports
along with breeding and showing
beef cattle. She especially likes
basketball, as a point guard or
guard, and also plays intermedi
ate soccer. A proclaimed “horse
person,” Kim enjoys equine rid
ing competition; one of her goals
is to have her very own Appaloo
sa.
Competition is keen in Angus
breed circles, but the Long sib
lings have held their own in area
show rings. Kurt’s “Brenda” was
a reserve champion winner,
while Hope and Kim each had a
second-place bred and owned
placings. Each also shows a mar
ket steer, including a Blue Roan
which Hope has this year, bred
from one of her Angus with some
Shorthorn blood crossed in.
But show seasons have grown
even more hectic in recent years
for the Long family with the ad
dition of other breeds of livestock
to their show strings.
“My mom loves the pigs,” said
Hope of their branching out into
swine showing. She and Kim
both show pigs, with Kim exhibi
ting five head of market hogs last
year. Hope raised a pair of mar
ket porkers last season, but is
considering a few more for the
upcoming exhibit season.
Hope has also taken a liking to
sheep, showing them as one of
several FFA projects she carries
as a sophomore at Red Lion Area The Long line of Pennsylvania Angus royalty: Hope
High School. As a fledgling shep- Long is a Pennsylvania Angus Princess and Kim Long,
herd, she again found herself on r jght, is a Pennsylvania Angus Sweetheart.
From front, Hope, Kim and Kurt spend part of a spring vacation day from school
grooming their Angus show heifers.
the bottom of a show class as the
York Fair. Her sheep finishing is
only one of several diverse FFA
projects, including beef breeding
and finishing, swine finishing,
and on-farm work experience.
She is chapter reporter and
hopes to run for a county office
in upcoming years, along with
working toward her Keystone
Degree.
“My goal is to win a star pro
duction award,” Hope said of her
motivation to excel in her FFA
projects and participation.
Though active in school,
sports, and 4-H project pursuits,
the Long siblings regularly tend,
groom, and exercise their own
animals. That effort picks up
during the summer, with extra
market project animals to look
after and hay to be made. Steers
get a cooling ba(
day, plus their o'
summer heat to
well-conditioned.
While the family’s show inter
est focuses on junior competition,
the Long children are quick to
credit their parents for their help,
encouragement, and enthusiasm.
“Dad has helped us learn
about beef and he just loves to
show,” Hope adds. When two
breed shows conflict, she counts
on him to lend a hand at the hal
ter of her beef animals for open
class events.
After gaining public-appear
ance experience as an Angus
princess and acquiring more per
sonal mobility after completing
her driving requirements, Hope
may compete for the state crown
as a goal. Kim has several more
years in which she can partici
pate in the ascending levels of
the breed royalty programs.
All things considered, the
beef breeding in
ve vastly out
lowns” for these
enthusiasts.