Show cattle expert trades the farm for Chapel Hill

A woman, Rylea Suddreth, posing for a portrait with a Black cow, named Hattie, on grassland on her family farm. — Rylea Suddreth poses for a portrait with Hattie, one of the 100-plus cows at her family farm in Catawba. (Jon Gardiner/UNC-Chapel Hill)

When incoming first-year Rylea Suddreth heads to Carolina this month, it might take her a while to say her goodbyes.

Suddreth shares her home at Maliblue Farms with 200-plus chickens, 100-plus cows, nine goats and three ponies — as well as six dogs and four cats.

On this family farm in Catawba, a little more than two hours west of Chapel Hill, Suddreth has sharpened her skills in cattle showing. Since her mom, Julie, and father, Barry, purchased Suddreth her first show calf — Maliblue, the farm’s namesake — five years ago, she’s won multiple championships at livestock competitions, including Supreme Grand Champion Heifer at the 2022 North Carolina State Fair.

“Once I tried it, I just really enjoyed it and fell in love with it,” she said.

While Suddreth, the first in her immediate family to attend college, is about to trade the barn for the dorm, she plans to use her studies at Carolina to strengthen her already budding business savvy, apply it to the farm and find new opportunities.

“Being able to help run the farm, I’ve realized it’s more of a business,” said Suddreth, who won a Shark Tank competition for high schoolers at a local community college. “As much as I do love farming, and I think I’ll always continue to be in it, I’d love to be able to do other stuff with business as well.”

Diptych with photo of framed livestock competition championship ribbons and a photo of a woman, Rylea Suddreth, with a brown cow.

“Different judges like different things. That’s what makes it fun. You can go in one ring and place one way and then go in another ring and place the other way just based on the judge’s opinion and what they look for in cattle — whether they’re looking for something that’s going to be better for production or something that’s got a showman look,” Suddreth said. (Jon Gardiner/UNC-Chapel Hill)

Life on the farm

Suddreth hasn’t always lived on a farm, but as a child, she enjoyed visiting a Wilkes County farm owned by her family and being around animals.

When she was in middle school, her family moved to their current home, and a neighbor suggested that Suddreth get involved with the show team at nearby Bandys High School.

“My parents — they didn’t know if I was going to stick with it or not, but I did,” Suddreth said.

Sticking with it is a bit of an understatement. To hear Suddreth’s mom tell it, her daughter and husband, who has a commercial cattle operation, sometimes “go overboard.” The two drove to New York to buy Maliblue, Suddreth’s first calf, and purchased championship-winning bovines like Hattie from Michigan and Lila from Trennepohl Farms, Indiana.

Diptych with photos of a sign reading "Barn Rules" with a list of rules and a photo of a woman, Rylea Suddreth, sitting down and looking at something on her phone with her mother, Julie Suddreth

“I feel like I know enough about cattle to be able to run a farm on the animal side of things, but I haven’t really been around any of the business side, other than running it myself,” said Suddreth, pictured on the right speaking with her mom. “But I feel like there’s more for me to learn in a classroom environment about business.” (Jon Gardiner/UNC-Chapel Hill)

Once these promising calves get to Maliblue Farms, the real work begins. A successful handler must provide the right nutrition, pay attention to the calf’s appearance and health, and build rapport so the animal is comfortable when it’s showtime.

Suddreth picked up much of this know-how from other area farmers and those in the show cattle network.

“Being able to learn from them, I feel like my showmanship skills have improved and helped me present the cow in the best way possible at a show,” Suddreth said. She took this knowledge and passed it on to others when she helped nearby Fred T. Foard High School establish its first show cattle team.

Diptych with photos of eggs in an incubator and a woman, Rylea Suddreth, standing in an enclosure with chickens.

“The chickens are a lot easier to keep than the cows are. We just keep the feed and the water filled up,” Suddreth said. “Then we have to get eggs. We normally get those twice a day. With the eggs, I’ve been collecting them, and I put them in incubators to hatch them out. (Jon Gardiner/UNC-Chapel Hill)

Goodbye for now

With move-in right around the corner, Suddreth is eager to be in a new environment and happy about rooming with her cousin. At Carolina, she’s looking forward to the academic challenge and new places and people.

While Suddreth’s sad to be leaving the farm, she’ll still make her way back regularly. Plus, she’ll still compete, already eyeing this year’s State Fair in October.

Suddreth feels showing cattle has prepared her well for life beyond the farm, imparting lessons on the importance of preparation, consistency and having a plan when things go wrong.

But is the farm — particularly her parents — ready for this new chapter without her?

“I think they’re probably sad I’m leaving,” Suddreth said with a smile. “It’s leaving more work for them.”

Diptych with photos of a woman, Rylea Suddreth setting out water for a miniature horse and Suddreth feeding several goats.

While she doesn’t always go into detail about her farm when meeting new people, Suddreth — seen here tending to a pony and goats — said she told a few of her future classmates at orientation this summer. “They were shocked,” she said. (Jon Gardiner/UNC-Chapel Hill)