What started with an old camera and years of speech contests has turned into national recognition for Emma Hackbart of the Milford area.
Emma, 15, earned second place in both the Intermediate Hereford Cattle Photo Contest and the Intermediate Advanced Speech Contest at the 2026 VitaFerm Junior National Hereford Expo in Madison, Wisconsin, at the beginning of July.
The Seward High School student, who is also involved in Future Farmers of America and participates in the Seward County Fair, competed against exhibitors from across the country.
This national success came after Emma was named Champion of the Sales Speech Contest and Reserve Champion of the Hereford Cattle Photo Contest at the state competition.
For the speech contest, participants could choose from three topics. Emma wrote and presented a five-minute speech on how Hereford cattle can improve commercial herds.
Although she now enjoys public speaking, that was not always the case.
"Originally, I hated speeches," she said. "I could not get up and talk in front of people, and it was super hard for me to do. But now that I have done it for a while, it makes it a lot easier to get up and talk in front of people."
This transition came after years of practice.
"Ever since I can remember, my mom has entered me in every single speech competition that she can find," she said. "I've been at county fairs; I've done things at UNL; I just do speech competitions at a bunch of cattle shows I go to. And, I started to fall in love with giving speeches, because it was once forced upon me to do them."
At the national competition, she was initially unsure how her speech had gone.
The first time she delivered it, she did not think she performed very well and even hoped she would not advance to the finals so she would not have to present it again. However, after making finals and delivering the speech a second time, she was grateful for the opportunity because she felt her presentation had improved.
Emma's photography journey also began in a simple way.
"My mom has a camera that we kind of joke about because it's pretty old, and I picked it up, and I've loved photography ever since," she said. "When it comes to these shows, you have categories of Hereford cattle and Hereford people, so I've never been the person to take pictures of people. So, I've always just went out to the lot or the barn and taken pictures of my calves."
She especially enjoys capturing calves.
"When the calves are in the barn, I get to know them super well," she said. "We became super close, and then they got out to pasture, they don't always stay as tame, and it's just pictures that I can have to remember when they were in the barn."
Emma said receiving second place at the national level motivated her to continue developing her photography skills.
"I was shocked because we were at a national competition," she said. "There were over 1,000 contest entries in all the contests, so it just shocked me that I did well. Ever since, it's kind of just shown to me that I might be a better photographer than I think I am."
Her parents, Jamie and Curtis Hackbart, said they were proud to see her work recognized.
"To see her talent showcased on a canvas print on the Alliant Energy Center wall for the week was exciting," Jamie said. "She loves her cattle, and it is evident in the pictures she takes of them."
Beyond the awards, Emma said one of her favorite parts of the event was meeting new people and making friends from across the country.
Overall, her success represented more than just a placing – it reflected years of effort and growth.
"You want your children to excel, and with all the time and effort she put into her speech and perfecting/rehearsing it, I was so happy and proud of her," Jamie said. "I am pretty sure I cried when we first found out she made it to the top three."
