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Natalie Steele seeks career in education, animal science
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LOCKRIDGE – Natalie Steele is only a sophomore in high school and she already has a plan for life after graduation, which includes a career in education and agriculture.
Natalie is the daughter of Jason and Carrie Steele of rural Lockridge. She is active in 4-H, president of FFA, in basketball, volleyball, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, a state-qualifier in tennis, and still has time left over to help out on the family farm, and especially with the family’s cattle herd. The Steeles have over 100 head of cattle, and Natalie and her siblings enjoy showing cattle at the county fair.
For this coming Greater Jefferson County Fair, Natalie plans to show cattle in the farm-raised steer category and the Purebred Simmental farm-raised steer category. In addition to her show cattle, Natalie also has two cows, which have had their calves this year, plus a heifer that will start calving next year. She said she doesn’t enter the cow-calf pairs in the fair because it interferes with breeding season.
Natalie is responsible for feeding and watering her cattle, changing their bedding, and checking on the calves in the pasture to make sure they’re healthy. She and her siblings, older sister Briana and younger brother Seth, take turns “counting cows.” She said it’s one of their favorite chores because they get to ride on the gator, traveling to all corners of the pasture to ensure all cows are accounted for.
Natalie doesn’t just work with agriculture, she’s also a student of the craft. During her freshman year of high school, she and Briana were members of Fairfield FFA’s Soil Judging Team that went to districts, subdistricts, state and all the way to the national competition in Oklahoma. Their father Jason is a soil scientist who also coached the team. The sibling pair of Natalie and Briana were joined by another sibling pair on the team, Carson and Wyatt Lovelady.
Jason said he was honored to coach those four kids, who strove hard to succeed and really cared about mastering the material.
“It makes my job easy when the kids want to learn,” he said. “They’re all farm kids, and they want to make the land better when they take over farming.”
Natalie said the high school’s ag and animal science classes are among her favorites. She’s in a plant science class now and says it’s great fun, and gives her a chance to work in the school’s greenhouse. Next year she plans to enroll in advanced animal science and ag business, and later take a course on vet science.
Natalie’s plan is to attend Iowa State University to major in education and minor in animal science, similar to her older sister, who is majoring in elementary education with a minor in agronomy. Jason said he’d proud that his children feel strongly about maintaining their connection to agriculture and wanting to help on the family farm. His children would be the seventh generation of Steeles to farm this land.
Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com
