Big Ben Steers Visitors To Indiana

Big Ben Steers Visitors To Indiana AG WORLD Ag World 8-4-19 As big as old Ben was, you'd think he was related to Paul Bunyan's ox, Babe, or at least be from Texas. But this Hereford-cross steer, of conventional heritage, was born and raised near Kokomo, Ind. Born in 1902, Old Ben weighed 4,720 lbs. and was still gaining when, in 1911, he slipped in the ice, broke a leg, and had to be destroyed. When full grown he stood 6 ft. 4 in. tall, was 16 ft. 2 in. long, and 13 ft. 6 in. around at the girth. He weighed 1,800 lbs.when he was 18 months old, and 4,000 lbs. at 4 years of age. After Old Ben died, he was stuffed and is now in display in a Kokomo park, where he continues to attract visitors, just as he did while alive. As large as Old Ben was, the Guinness Book of World Records lists Mount Katandin, a Holstein-Durham cross, as the world's heaviest steer. This animal, exhibited in Maine in the early 1900's, weighed in at a whopping 5,000 lbs.

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