A little about the Harward Sisters!

A short bio about the sisters: 

We are Brooke, Catherine, LeAnn, Marcie, and Mattie Harward, also known as the “Harward Sisters.” We live in Richfield, NC (Stanly County) with our dad and mom, Marcus and Patty Harward. Our family runs a commercial beef cattle operation as well as three livestock auction markets in NC and SC and a livestock video auction. We all attend Highland Baptist Church in New London, NC. Brooke is 20 years old and is currently attending NC State University. She will graduate in December and plans to return to work at the family businesses. Catherine just graduated high school and has accepted the Parks Scholarship to attend NC State University in the fall. She will be studying Animal Science and Agricultural Business Management. LeAnn is a rising sophomore in high-school at Gray Stone Day School where she is Sophomore Class President and a member of the volleyball team. Marcie and Mattie will be attending middle school next year and will be in the 6^th grade. The twins enjoy playing the piano, singing in chorus, and playing volleyball through their traveling volleyball team.

We started showing livestock about 8 years ago. Even though we grew up on our family’s cattle farm and were involved with the operation from an early age, we had not considered showing cattle before this time. In 2005, Catherine was first asked if she would like to start showing with a family who had seen her at the auction markets. That fall Catherine showed at county fairs and the NC State Fair. The next spring Brooke, LeAnn and the twins, Marcie and Mattie, said they would like to show and began going to shows with Catherine as well. The three older girls showed at multiple shows across North Carolina the next few years and Marcie and Mattie showed wherever they could, even though they were mostly in the “Pee-Wee” division. In 2009 we attended our first National Junior Angus Show in Georgia and since then have not only shown in NC but also traveled across the US to show at National Junior Angus Association shows. We also show in a Show Circuit in the fall attending multiple county fairs and the NC State Fair every year.

What is your favorite part of showing livestock?

Our favorite part about showing livestock is the friends you make along the way. As much as we love our cattle and love to compete, we also love the friends that we have made. We all have at least one friend that we have made through showing cattle that we consider to be one of our best friends. Our other favorite part about showing livestock is the fact that we as sisters have a common goal and passion to show livestock. Showing has brought us closer as a family and we are very thankful for that.

Biggest accomplishment in showing livestock:

We all have different accomplishments but are proud of each other for what we have achieved.

Brooke: Winning senior showmanship at the NC State Fair. Also earning the title of Miss American Angus, although this was not directly showing it was partly due to my success in the show ring and the lessons I learned from showing.

Catherine: Winning Reserve Champion Angus Heifer at the NC State Fair two years in a row with the same heifer.

LeAnn: Earning Reserve Senior Champion with my cow and bred-and-owned heifer at the Atlantic National Junior Regional Show in Maryland.

Marcie: Winning Junior Showmanship at the WNC Spring Fling and winning my first belt buckle!

Mattie: Winning junior showmanship two years in a row at the NC Junior Beef Round-Up.