With ears twitching back and eyes straining to see inside the door, Betsy the heifer made her way into the show ring. She was one of nearly two dozen beauties competing Tuesday in the commercial dairy heifer show sponsored by the Future Farmers of America at the Georgia State Fair in Macon.

John Bernard was the sole judge in the ring. Bernard, an associate professor for dairy research and extension at the University of Georgia's Tifton campus, watched every move of the heifers and the handlers.

"I do an evaluation for how they handle the animals, and how they've clipped, groomed and cleaned them. Do they have their ears cleaned out? Are their hooves clean?" Bernard said.

The handlers spent months getting ready for the big day.

"It takes a good deal of time to train them, feed them every day and make sure they have water," said Bernard, who grew up on a farm in east Tennessee.

Not as many kids are growing up on farms these days, something Dewey Maxwell's noticed in the 36 years he's been a member of the Exchange Club, which sponsors the fair.

"The numbers are decreasing, but they're still doing a tremendous job of it," said Maxwell who spent 35 years as Bibb County's Extension director.

The dozen members of the Perry Dairy Show Team lease their heifers from dairy farms and keep them at the home of teacher Alicia Tomlinson.

"Most students could not afford to buy their own," Tomlinson said.

After a student chooses a heifer, it's their project for the year. They are responsible for feeding, training and cleaning the animal, Tomlinson said.

"This is the easy part," Tomlinson said as she watched the cows circle the ring under strings of red, white and blue pennants drawn up to a single point like a circus tent. "It's all the mornings, and nights and evenings that's the hard work."

With this crowd, there was no picking favorites.

"I love them all. They're all doing a really good job," she said.

Chastity Roberson, 14, of Perry, was all smiles in the ring.

"I never in my entire life thought I'd be showing a cow," said Roberson, who placed second in one of the showmanship competitions.

She realized she was at a disadvantage. Her heifer, Lucky, has a short neck which made it harder to keep her head high.

"They look ten times better with their head up," Roberson said.

But Betsy bested them all. Her handler, Nick Hering, 14, of Warner Robins walked out with one of the blue ribbons.

"I just do whatever my ag teacher told me to," Hering said of his win.

Meredith Stovall, 16, traveled all the way from Elbert County to pick up second place.

"We've been on the road for four days, from Elberton to Gwinnett and from Gwinnett to Macon," Stovall said.

Stovall, with her own thick mane of curly brown hair, stood straight and tall with a big smile as she led her heifer, Ginger, around the ring.

"I love my heifer. This is what I do for fun. How could I not smile," she said.

Brad Oliver, 14, of Perry, didn't have much to smile about. His heifer, Oreo, didn't meet the weight requirement of 550 pounds.

"That's what's so disappointing because they work so hard, and if they don't weigh enough they can't compete," said his mom, Cindy Bellew. "We should have fed her some Oreos."