Spend a little time with Troy High School senior Dakota Fleming and you’ll come away impressed.

She has a contagious sort of energy, a knack for conversation that nimbly flits from French horn performances in the school band to serious contemplations of what the weather may hold for her family’s farm this year.

There’s a confidence about her as we course the back roads of Bell and Falls counties, a comfort that comes with calling such a place her home.

Dakota Fleming, 17, will discuss the results of her 4-H project on where to inject cows during the 48th annual Blackland Income Growth Conference Tuesday and Wednesday at the Heart O’ Texas Coliseum.
Bobby Horecka photo

On this particular afternoon, however, Dakota’s all but giddy. That acceptance letter from Texas A&M University arrived moments before, and I can tell it’s a dream come true for the incoming agriculture communications major with the future ahead of her.

Of course, few have tested their career callings nearly as well as this particular 17-year-old. She already has spent years honing showmanship qualities in various 4-H Club and FFA competitions. Her words have found print in some sizable statewide publications.

She even confronted Texas Department of Transportation officials in front of hundreds at a packed community hall, determined to defend her family’s farm from intrusions by the Trans-Texas Corridor.

But I must admit a certain level of skepticism when I spotted her name among the group of professors and crop researchers on tap for the 48th annual Blackland Income Growth Conference Tuesday and Wednesday at the Heart O’ Texas Coliseum.

“I was a bit surprised myself when it first got brought up,” Dakota said. “But I’m kind of looking forward to it.”

So what will she teach us about beef-quality assurance?

“Proper injections sites,” she said. “It’s very important in the beef business. It was a 4-H project for me. I’ve always been interested in beef cattle, because that’s what my family is involved with.

“So I started trying to figure out what sort of thing I could do for an educational program.

“We kept coming across all these boring presentations on how you work cows or take pictures of them,” she added. “But then we came across one on how to give injections the right way, how giving the wrong injections can impact the meat industry. So we decided to go along with this demonstration, something we could actually use back here at home.”

She demonstrated that afternoon. Her father, Robert Fleming, had hauled in a fresh load of calves earlier that day.

Within minutes, Dakota and her younger brother, Augustus, had readied their gear, set up the chute and were handily juggling three separate inoculations as the calves filed past.

Landing the shots in the neck area is important, she said. A lot of people aim for the larger target in rear, but that can ruin the meat.

Another handy piece of advice came in form of a modified Styrofoam ice chest, complete with color coordinated holes across the lid to match the syringes in use. It’s a handy cooling device as well as a jobsite organizer.

But such presentations are more than just a few handy tips and nifty gadgets.

“I wanted something that my family could use,” she said. “Our whole family has learned how to make things better in our operation, and that helps make the whole industry better for all of us.”

Dakota’s beef cattle presentation will be at 9:10 a.m. Tuesday, as one of several by crop and cattle specialists scheduled for the B.I.G. Conference.

For more information, contact the McLennan County AgriLife Extension Service Office at 254-757-5180.

Bobby Horecka lives in China Spring with his wife and three children. He writes for the Texas Farm Bureau’s print publications, online news service and video projects.