FOUR LEAF CATTLE
About Us
OUR STORY
We Didn't Grow Up Here. We Chose It.
Neither of us comes from agriculture. We're Eric and Allison Smith, and we made a decision a few years back to stop talking about wanting a different life and actually go build one. We sold our house in the suburbs and bought a beat-up farmhouse on 20 acres outside of Hubertus, Wisconsin. We had no idea what we were doing.
One cold November, we knocked on our neighbor's door looking to buy beef. Turns out he raised Herefords. He didn't sell us a side of beef — he sold us two show steers and pointed us toward the ring. We bought them. We showed up. We had a lot to learn.
That was the start of Four Leaf Cattle.
We started on a small farm in Erin, Wisconsin. It wasn't much, but it was ours, and it's where this program took its first steps. The cattle got better. The operation grew. And before long, we'd outgrown what that farm could give us.
We didn't outgrow the memories. We didn't outgrow what that place taught us. But the program demanded more, and we weren't willing to put a ceiling on it.
Today we find ourselves in the shadow of Holy Hill — with the land and facilities to support this operation not just for where we are now, but for where we're headed. Room for the cattle. Room for the program. Room for the next generation to keep building what we started in Erin.
We grow our own hay and feed to carry the herd through Wisconsin winters. Over the years we converted the original 1930s bank barn into a full show cattle facility — heated, cooled, with an indoor wash rack. Our show cattle and donor cows are calved and raised right here.
We show Hereford heifers, Hereford steers, and competitive crossbred steers. We've won classes and divisions and placed at the national level. We invest in 1-2 elite heifers a year from the programs we believe in, and we cull hard — even when it stings. Only the best stay in our donor pen.
We also work to put ourselves in the room with the best breeders and cattle companies in the industry. That means buying from the top programs, building real relationships, and staying connected to where the breed is headed.
Our Showmen
Tessa was there from the beginning — before we really knew what we were doing. She helped us figure it out. While we were learning the ropes, she was in the ring putting everything she had into it, competing against kids who had been doing this their whole lives and holding her own.
What she's built since is her own. Multiple national show class and division wins. A Wisconsin State Fair breed steer winner who qualified for the Governor's Auction — twice. Multiple state, county, and regional jackpot class wins, division championships, reserve overall and supreme championships, including supreme showmanship in her age group. She's placed in the top 10 at Wisconsin State Fair showmanship more than once and has consistently shown up and delivered on the biggest stages junior Hereford has to offer.
In 2025, she was selected as Wisconsin Hereford Princess. In 2026, she was named Wisconsin Hereford Queen — the top junior representative for the breed in the state. We couldn't be more proud of what she's built — but more than the titles, we're proud of how she built it.
Makenna is carving her own path in this breed — and she's doing it going head to head with some of the best junior exhibitors in the country.
She's earned reserve overall at national shows, as well as multiple-time national class and division winner, and been a showmanship finalist multiple times at the Hereford Junior National Expo. At the state level she's taken class and division and showmanship grand champion wins at the Wisconsin State Fair as well as preview shows, and has stacked up class, divisions, breed and showmanship wins at regional jackpots and county shows throughout her career.
She's not done. Not even close.
What We Stand For
Our goal is to have Four Leaf Cattle to be regarded alongside the most respected Hereford breeders in the country — the families and programs that have shaped the breed and made their mark in the ring for generations.
Our legacy won't just be the cattle we raise. It'll be the quality of the genetics, the consistency of performance, and the reputation of the people behind the brand.
- Integrity — Do what's right, even when it's hard.
- Work Ethic — Outwork and out-discipline the competition.
- Discipline — Maintain uncompromising standards in cattle and in people.
- Showmanship — Present cattle — and ourselves — with excellence.
- Purpose & Action — Every decision has intent. Every step moves us forward.
- Legacy — Build something that lasts beyond one generation.