Entering the Missouri State Fair's market steer show, Jefferson City's Bryana Binkley may have had an advantage over the competition.
Growing up on a livestock farm, her parents taught her the secrets of success. Perhaps the most important: old-fashioned hard work.
For Binkley, daughter of Dale and Ronda Binkley, that work paid off Tuesday when her steer was named 2016 grand champion market steer at the fair.
Her immediate reaction upon hearing she won was "tears of joy, because of all the hard work, all those early mornings."
She added, "All the work I put into it has been accomplished, and it's also a big reward to my family.
"My brother won reserve grand champion in 1999 and again in 2005, but we've never won grand champion. It's a family deal. My dad helps, my mom helps, my brother helps."
Ted, Binkley's prize-winning crossbred steer, weighed 1,315 pounds.
Binkley is a sophomore at Eastern Oklahoma State College. She is a graduate of Calvary Lutheran High School and member of the Calvary Lutheran FFA Chapter.
The reserve grand champion market steer honor went to Layne Robinson, of Chillicothe. He is the son of Allen and Stephanie Robinson and is a member of the Chillicothe FFA chapter. Robinson's crossbred steer weighed 1,320 pounds.
On Saturday, Binkley and Robinson sold their market steers in two of 12 lots offered in the Missouri State Fair Sale of Champions. Seventy percent of the proceeds from the annual sale go to the winning exhibitors, while 30 percent goes to the Missouri State Fair Foundation Youth in Agriculture (YIA) Scholarship Program.
Last year's grand champion sold for approximately $18,000. That might sound like a lot for a single steer, but consider, raising Ted has been almost a full-time job for Binkley over the past year and a half.
Every day, she feeds, waters, grooms and exercises Ted, to name a few of the chores. That includes waking up at 2 a.m. every morning to rinse and dry her steer, to give him an attractive, fluffy exterior.
"I started at a young age with him, spending six, eight hours a day," she said. "They just become your best friend. You still get attached like any other pet, (like a) dog or cat."
However, she knows the end goal isn't to raise them for a pet but for their sale and slaughter for food.
After attending community college, she plans to earn a four-year degree that she can use in an agriculture-related field.
Judges look at the muscle structure of livestock and the way they move, among other things. Binkley's steer has good genetics, which also helps, she said. However, the top ingredient of her success goes back to Binkley's work ethic.
"I put 100 percent in it, even on mornings I didn't want to get up at 2 o'clock," she said. "I believe that hard work paid off."