Editor’s Message

Livestock shows stand out as proof of young people putting great effort and time into their projects, not to mention a lot of money.

The benefits of FFA and 4-H are demonstrated each year, but many people do not realize just how intense and often times tedious it can be while participating in other school activities throughout the year – not only for the young people but also for parents.

These programs go beyond walking into the show pen and reap a lot of skills and knowledge that can carry on through a whole career.

-Raising and showing livestock results in the acquisition of numerous life skills by youth. Some of these skills include responsibility, time management, and animal husbandry skills like feeding, breeding, vaccinating, treating animals for sickness, treating animals for lameness, and training animals for the showering.

-Youth who show animals also learn about ownership deadlines, entry deadlines, making travel plans, and teamwork learned from working together as a family.

-Youth who compete on judging teams learn to evaluate dairy cattle, horses, meat, or livestock such as beef cattle, goats, sheep, and swine.

-Youth who compete on dairy cattle, horse, meat, or livestock judging teams learn leadership development skills like critical thinking, decision making, and public speaking.

-The leadership skills gained by youth who compete on judging teams will give these youth an advantage later in life, especially when they are interviewing for jobs.

Since the early 1900s, livestock shows have been held throughout the United States for adults and youth to compare the quality of their animals. These shows have been held at the local, county, district, state, regional, and national level.

In the early days, one of the most famous shows was the “International” held at the stockyards in Chicago, IL. Exhibiting a champion animal at the International was considered the pinnacle of achievements in the livestock industry.

The former Dr. O’Dell G. Daniel said, “There will be livestock shows as long as there are youngsters who have parents and grandparents. Let’s not confuse the issue by saying we have steer shows, barrow shows, lambs shows, etc. We have kid shows where it is necessary to have an animal to be admitted through the gate.”

For youth exhibitors, the “rewards” for raising and showing animals are more than monetary awards. As Daniel said, “Junior Livestock Projects are educational. They are the greatest teaching project known to man.”

If you ask youth what they gain from raising and showing animals, they will respond with a laundry list of what are now referred to as “life skills”.

Working from the Head, Heart, Hands, and Health included in the 4-H motto, many of these “life skills” can be attributed to the virtues of raising and showing livestock projects. Regardless of whether the youth is a member of 4-H, FFA or simply raising animals on their family’s farm or ranch, the valuable skills developed from raising animal projects are numerous.

In addition to learning life skills, youth who raise market animals are learning how to raise food that is wholesome and nutritious. Youth who excel at raising market animals are referred to as “good feeders” because of the skills they acquire in properly feeding and raising an animal or animals to their ideal market weight.

These youth develop tremendous responsibility as they learn their animal is part of the food chain and will eventually become part of the food supply. Youth who raise breeding animals also learn tremendous responsibility as they are the livestock breeders of the future. They must learn how to properly raise their animals until the animal(s) reaches puberty. They must then learn the best method for getting their animal pregnant, so the animal can become part of “the circle of life.”

Youth who raise breeding or market animals are critically important to the future of the livestock industry. The skills they learn at a young age will pay dividends for many years to come.

Hats off to the youth in Castro County for being a part of a bigger picture and for all the hard work you put into your project. Good luck to you all.