We are so excited to announce our 2021 – 2022 Manatee County Cattlemen’s Sweetheart – Shelbie Davis! Thank you to our outgoing MCCA Sweetheart (and current FCA Sweetheart!) Elanie Mason, for doing such an amazing job representing our county and our industry, we are excited to see what you’ll continue to do!
Shelbie, we are so excited to get to know you a bit better as our reigning sweetheart, we know you have big plans and we wanted to share some information with our members who may not have had a chance to meet you yet!
Shelbie, tell us a bit about yourself!
My name is Shelbie Davis! I am the current Manatee County Sweetheart, and I am proud to say that my family is 8 generations deep in Manatee County. We own and operate 2 feed stores in Manatee County, and I grew up being very involved with farmers and ranchers in our community! I am a junior at the University of Florida pursuing a career in Agriculture Education and my passion is highlighting opportunities to expand our industry to and for those who are outside of agriculture, so they can fall in love with our people, our passion and our industry!
As the MCCA Sweetheart, what are your goals and how will you promote and educate consumers about our industry?
As the MCCA Sweetheart, I will promote beef and the industry by using social media platforms. There are a lot of ways that I can use social media as an education platform, such as fun fact Fridays, or recipe Wednesdays. Social media is a big part of today’s growing society so using it as an educational tool is a great way to promote beef. I will also attend as many public events that I can to advocate for the beef industry, as well as gaining knowledge for myself at these events.
What are your strengths?
I would say that I am a very personable person. I am easy to talk to and I am always willing to learn more. Another strength I have is that because of my background I am able to talk to many different people regardless of the platform, educational, directing, or encouragement. One weakness I have is that I am not the most outgoing when it comes to being front and center, however, that is a work in progress!
Tell us about your involvement in the cattle industry!
My involvement in the cattle industry is not light. I have shown homegrown calves since I was eight years old, and I still travel the state showing bred and owned cattle. I have been very involved in our family’s cow calf operation to the point where my papa gifted me a small herd of my own to start my own operation. In our operation I try to steadily provide kids top notch calves for the fair because I know that’s what I would have wanted.
In your opinion, what are some of the biggest challenges our industry faces?
Challenges that the beef industry faces the most are decisions made out of a lack of education. Board members of county and state offices make decisions or attempt to pass different items of business that they think are “beneficial” or “what needs to be done”, but in reality if those were to pass they would be detrimental. So what we can do now is do our best to educate any and every one so people would understand and have background before bringing items to the table.
What are you most excited for as the MCCA Sweetheart?
As MCCA Sweetheart I am most excited about using my platform to advocate for the beef industry towards people who were not brought up in agriculture. I plan to educate myself the best I can in order to educate others who know no different. I am also so excited to work with and meet other members of the beef industry, and develop ways to provide opportunity and education to those who were not born into the industry.
Shelbie, we are so excited to watch you inspire us all this year! Members, if you have not yet had a chance to meet Shelbie, we encourage you to “like” the Manatee County Cattlemen’s Association Sweetheart page (linked here!) on Facebook to follow along on her adventures! Interested in having Shelbie attend an event, speak to your class or organization? Make sure to send her an email at Manateecattlemensweetheart@gmail.com and help her get even more experience AND add exposure to and for our industry!