Farmer, 4-H showman, aspiring businessman, and student— 12-year-old Zach Butler epitomizes all of these. The son of Mike and Peggy Butler and a third-generation resident of the Butler Farm in Waynesburg, PA, Zach knows a thing or two about the value of hard work that comes with a farmer’s lifestyle. To quote his father, “That’s what we do.”
Growing up on the family farm, Zach has been working the land since he was a toddler, and has become skilled at running farm equipment, harvesting hay in the summer months, and maintaining the property year-round. This drive is what makes Zach a successful farmer and showman.
This year will mark Zach’s second season as a member of the PA 4-H Program, Greene County chapter, under the leadership of Wesley Simpson. After his 4-H friends, Beau and Bryce Balint, encouraged Zach to get pigs as well, he followed their advice, and made his debut in the show ring last October showing swine at the Greene County Fairgrounds. The show environment was an exciting but nerve-wracking one, and Zach overcame each challenge with excitement. “It was really fun, but I was really stressed before the first showing,” he recalls, describing the various checkpoints of the show, such as leading the pigs around a show ring as a live auction takes place and the swine are judged. However, the experience proved to be enjoyable for Zach. “I liked it so much!” he recalls. “We got [the pigs] first, then moved up to steer.”
This year, Zach will be making his bovine debut at the Greene County Fair, where he looks forward to showing his Black Angus Steer, Oliver. If Zach thought preparation for the swine show was intensive, he is more ready than ever to take on the even more particular– and labor intensive– steer show and auction. “You have to lead them a certain way, and brush them a certain way,” Zach explains. Not a single detail goes unnoticed. To make fair day a success, coming home with not only a blue ribbon, but green bills as well, Zach follows a specific daily routine to prepare himself and his livestock beyond their daily feeding needs.
Zach rises at 7 o’clock in the morning, and gives his steer, Oliver, his first meal of hay and grain with fresh water. By late afternoon, he feeds Oliver again, and follows this second meal with show preparation. Zach brushes Oliver thoroughly, then begins their daily regimen of showmanship practice, making laps around the farm to calibrate Oliver to walking well on a lead, and allowing boy and steer to work together seamlessly. After this, Zach gives Oliver some unstructured “alone time” to free graze in the pasture. After no time at all, the sun has set and risen again, and Zach is ready for a new day on the farm. When asked of his favorite part of the 4-H experience, he emphatically responds, “The shows! Just walking the animals around the ring.” With the goal of a great competition and a high auction sale price ever at the forefront of his mind, Zach approaches his routine with equal amounts of discipline and excitement.
But livestock shows are not the only thing on Zach’s agenda. Zach is moving into his sixth-grade year with PA Cyber, and his favorite subject, not surprisingly, is science. Zach is an active member of his community and is busy with a myriad of activities. He and his family worship at First Baptist Church in Waynesburg, and Zach participates in Hapkido at the American Judo-Hapkido Institution, also in Waynesburg. He is a member of the Warrior Trail Association, where he attends club meetings and helps at trail clean-up days. At home, when he isn’t busy working around the farm, Zach enjoys riding his side by side, and acting toward his big dreams for the future.
Zach aspires to one day own his own gas and oil company– as well as invest in the stock market– and he is already working toward achieving these goals. Just this year, Zach has opened his own lawn care and landscaping business, ZJB Enterprises, to step into the world of finances, and is proud to have a custodial account with First Federal Savings and Loan of Greene County to help him do so. Although Zach has only one lawn as of right now, he is excited to take on more as his business picks up steam. Ever a young man with a plan, he says, “I’m going to hand out flyers now.”
“He’s definitely a hard worker; very mature,” Mike says, laughing. “He’s pretty skilled at Powerpoint and Excel. He even showed us how to use new skills like cameo recording!” Zach is well on his way to being a businessman, but his dad makes sure he understands many of the challenges he will face along the way. “What’s the hardest part of running a business?” Mike asks his son. They both reply, “Doing the books!”
Zach is supported and inspired by many family members, friends, and colleagues, each helping to “steer” him down the path to a successful future. He is inspired to pursue his future career goals by his Uncle Joey, who holds a degree in business, as well as Pam Marisa from Direct Results, and of course, every day by his mom and dad. He also extends a huge thank you to the many local businesses that do so much to support the 4-H program in our community. “Thanks, EQT!” Zach adds.
We all have that one activity that makes us feel more alive than anything else we do, that one task that connects us with our purpose, that one place where we truly feel at home. From the farm to the show ring, and everywhere in between, Zach has found his place, and the many ways he can, and will, influence the world for the better.