Conneautville, Pa.: Papa’s Girls thrive on responsibility and showing cattle

HARRISBURG, Pa. – In an age where most teenagers lack direction and responsibility, KILE offers a refreshing glimpse into the fact that in the agriculture community, direction and responsibility in teenagers is, in fact, very apparent.
For sisters, Jolene (19), Char (18), Christine (17), and Justine (15) Yoder, owners of Papa’s Girls Cattle Co. in Conneautville, Pa., responsibility is part of their daily life.
They thrive. Charged with the care of their head of 25 Shorthorn, Maine Anjou, and crossbred show cattle, “Papa’s Girls” (as they are known in the show ring), love agricultural life and everything that comes with it.
The sisters thrive in the show ring, and exhibit at four community fairs, five preview shows, and the National Shorthorn Show each year.
They even drive their large show trailer by themselves.
Each of the sisters have their place in their show operation, Christine is the showman; Jolene, the clipper; Char, the fitter; and Justine, the youngest, helps everyone as she learns the ropes.
Jolene and Char prefer showing Shorthorns, while Justine and Christine prefer the Maine-Anjou breed.
Company name. The sisters named their company after their grandfather, Joe Urbanick Sr., known as “Papa” to his granddaughters.
Urbanick started his granddaughters on the show circuit at a young age, helping him show his cattle on the national circuit as soon as they were tall enough to hold onto a halter.
For Jolene, she started showing at age five. As each turned six, they got their first steer from their parents, and building on the lessons learned from their grandfather, began to build their own business.
The sisters use their parents’ land, but purchase their own cattle and do most of the work themselves.
This year, they brought four cattle to KILE: a crossbred heifer owned by Jolene; a Maine-Anjou heifer owned by Christine; a Shorthorn heifer owned by Char; and a crossbred steer owned by Justine.
Christine took the reserve champion Maine-Anjou breeding cattle title.