Burke County High student heads to big livestock competition

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - One Burke County high schooler is raising livestock all by herself.

Abby Joyner has been showing cows since she was in elementary school. Now her skills are taking her to the state Future Farmers of America, FFA, Convention.

“They’re my best friends at this point like they know me, and I know them,” she said.

Joyner is not your typical teenager. How many high school students do you know run their own farms?

“I started my herd all by myself, so it’s just me. I’m a first-generation dairy farmer, so it’s kind of cool to grow it from just me and me starting the farm,” she said.

Joyner now has six cows. She comes out every day to take care of them.

Katie Burch is Burke County High School’s FFA advisor. She said, “For Abby to be raising and breeding and showing her own livestock, that’s pretty awesome.”

Burch has known Joyner since elementary school.

“She’s been a go-getter since I met her. I knew from the start she was going to do great things,” she said.

And now, after winning at state in the dairy production entrepreneurship area, she’s headed to the national FFA convention in the fall.

“I never thought when I started all this that it would get to this point, but it’s definitely an adventure, and we’re here for the ride now,” she said.

Joyner rode with these cows to many shows, and she’s grateful for the chance to compete in a big one.

After she’s done with school, she wants to have a career in dairy.

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