Cowgirls leading the herd

NEW LONDON — When 17-year-old Makynna Carpenter and her grandmother, Becky Waddell, haul a stock trailer full of Highland cattle, they often get more attention than the animals do.

  Buy Photo

“We’ll get snarky comments like, ‘You don’t see a woman hauling around a stock trailer all the time,’” Carpenter said. “It’s just awesome having more women in a more heavily male-dominated field.”

Carpenter, who graduated from New London High School this May, doesn’t blink at the remarks. She’s too focused on running Clampitt Hills Highland Ranch, a family operation she and her grandmother built from the ground up just outside Davis City.

  Buy Photo

Together, they’ve grown their herd of Scottish Highlanders from two animals to as many as 40 head in five years.

“She saw them on a trip to Vermont and fell in love,” Carpenter said of her grandmother. “She always says she was a spoiled wife and got what she wanted.”

What started as curiosity became a calling. The pair manage every part of the operation — breeding, calving, hauling, and sales — proving through daily work that women belong in every corner of the beef industry.

Carpenter hadn’t always planned on raising cattle, but after the Highlanders arrived in 2019, she found herself spending more time in the barn and the pasture — learning, helping, and realizing she didn’t want to stop.

  Buy Photo

“Highlands are just different,” she said. “They’re super tame. We can walk right up to cows that just calved and handle the babies. Most commercial cows won’t let you near them.”

The cattle aren’t just cooperative — they’re productive. Highland beef is prized for its quality and health profile.

“It’s lean — lower in cholesterol than chicken,” Carpenter said. “It’s right up there with Wagyu. My grandma has a photo comparing Highland and Angus beef, and the fat content difference is huge.”

Carpenter’s deepening expertise has already drawn industry recognition. The Heartland Highland Cattle Association awarded her two scholarships —$750 as a junior and another $500 this year — for her commitment to the breed. She also received the 2024 Brownfield Iowa Youth in Ag Award, which highlights youth leadership across the agricultural spectrum.

Her education doesn’t end at the fence line.

  Buy Photo

While attending New London, she dual-enrolled at Danville to participate in its FFA program, where she helped expand the chapter’s communication strategy and competed in career development events. She’s also active in 4-H and a regular at livestock shows and the Henry County Fair.

This spring, Carpenter added another tool to her belt when she attended Cowgirl Confident, a hands-on training camp in Oklahoma for young women in agriculture. There, she learned how to administer vaccines, perform ultrasounds and pull calves — skills that hit close to home.

“We had to pull a calf once and didn’t know how,” she said. “We had to call a neighbor. Now I know what to do.”

  Buy Photo

Throughout it all, Waddell has remained her closest mentor and partner. They share responsibilities, keep matching notebooks to track calving data, and make nearly every decision together.

“She’s one of the strongest people I know,” Carpenter said. “She’s taught me how to stay on top of everything.”

Her next steps include earning a certification in equine bodywork through the Masterson Method, based in Fairfield, and then attending farrier school. But her plans don’t stop there.

“I’ll keep breeding and raising Highlands,” she said. “That’s not going away.”

As Iowa celebrates Beef Month, Carpenter represents more than just the next generation of producers — she’s part of a growing movement reshaping who leads in agriculture. And through it all, one person has quietly shaped her path more than anyone else.

  Buy Photo

“I admire her,” she said of her grandmother. “She’s helped me with everything.”

And more often than not, she’s still right there in the passenger seat — headed out with a trailer full of Highlands.

Comments: AnnaMarie.Kruse@southeastiowaunion.com