On July 24th, Maggie Delacerda competed in the Junior National Beefmaster Breeders Association Show, a highly competitive heifer breeding competition. She placed second out of 12 students with her heifer, Lady Bird Britches or “Birdie” for short, and was the only DHS student to make it to national level.

The judging at breeding competitions can be subjective and centers around judge preference but Birdie usually gets points for her bone and frame structure. 

Agriculture has a large meaning to Delacerda and her family. 

“I have always loved animals and plants,” she says

“I think that stemmed from my grandpa who owned a small ranch with a big garden. I would always play with the cattle and chickens.” 

Her grandfather was also the one who gave her her first calves- a Holstein bottle baby that was about 2 weeks old, a 6th month old dairy heifer and a longhorn heifer

– which is when Delacerda knew she wanted to show cattle. 

In addition, she’s been riding horses for about 6 years. She used to ride western and now  competes in the hunter ring (English), and is “an avid garden and flower enthusiast!“ She is on the career path to be a large animal veterinarian.