Developing the next generation.
Prime Start puts high school students in charge of raising real cattle from the ground up — feeding, health monitoring, data collection, recordkeeping, the whole operation, start to finish. Beef Northwest provides the animals, feed, pen space at the Prime Start lot, and veterinary care, all at virtually no cost to the student.
This isn’t a classroom simulation. It’s the real thing, with real responsibility, on a working feedlot in Eastern Oregon.
At a Glance
- High-quality steers, feed, veterinary care, and pen space — provided at no cost to the student
- One-on-one mentorship from Beef Northwest staff, plus monthly Tailgate Talks on everything from animal health to business decision-making
- Students keep the profits earned from their project
- Applications open in the fall, six students are selected, and the program runs through the following summer — students follow their animals all the way to harvest
Who can apply
High school students in Umatilla County, Oregon.
Prime Start is looking for students who are ready to put in the work. You’ll be a good fit if you:
- Can commit to the full program, including regular feeding rotations and required events
- Are serious about the work and willing to show up consistently — even when it’s inconvenient
- Can secure a recommendation letter from an ag teacher or advisor
- Have a parent or guardian able to sign off on your participation
No prior cattle experience required — just be ready to get to work.
Applications close: 12/4
What students gain
Two things: a foundation, and a payout.
Students leave with real experience in cattle production — feeding decisions, health calls, tracking growth and efficiency, the day-to-day judgment calls that don’t show up in a textbook. That kind of hands-on problem-solving carries into any career, agriculture or not.
Prime Start runs two tracks, so students see both ends of the beef supply chain. In the Feedyard Program, students finish cattle and follow them all the way to harvest — learning meat fabrication and how to sell beef along the way. In the Breeding Program, students work alongside Wilson Cattle Co. to select breeding stock, manage a herd through calving season, and understand what it takes to improve a herd year over year.
And when the project wraps, they keep the profits earned from it. Not a stipend, not a certificate — actual ownership of the outcome, good or bad, based on the work they put in.
CONTACT
If you have any questions,
please contact Kylie Temple at [email protected]
