Klancy Bruton - Dimmitt High School - Sophomore, Castro County 4-H, Dimmitt FFA, Parents - Kevin & Krisse Bruton

Why are ag programs necessary? Where were you when the

Where were you when the Houston Livestock Show was cancelled for 2020?

I know where I was. I was standing in my mom’s class room watching on her interactive TV as the Houston mayor, Sylvster Turner, explained why they had made the decision to shut down the Houston Rodeo and all activities surrounding it. As we stood in disbelief, how could I explain to my classmates how much work, time, and effort each and every one of us had put into our projects and not been given the chance to show our hard work.

From the outside looking in, my classmates didn’t understand my love and heartbreak as Mr. Turner explained his reasons for concern for public safety and from the inside looking out, I couldn’t explain to them the absolute devastation I was experiencing. It was surreal and overwhelming all at the same time.

I wasn’t the only person experiencing these emotions on March 13th. Kids from across the state were turned around at the barn doors without an alternative show for their animals this show season. After Houston was shut down, Austin stock show followed as well. In a few days our plans changed that we had planned for the past year and the weeks following, we watched our lives change like we had never seen and our parents had never seen.

Hello, my name is Klancy Bruton and I am currently a sophomore at Dimmitt High School. I enjoy showing cattle and cheering, but as of right now the only things I enjoy are cheering on my team from the sidelines and looking at the latest fashion magazines. This lockdown has shown me a lot the past few months, things that we enjoy the most can be taken away in an instant.

How has our world changed in the last few months? We have come to enjoy simpler times, finding that little things mean more. I have come to the realization that getting to see my peers every day, sitting down at a restaurant, and getting to see people’s faces behind a mask was something that we took for granted. The world is changing more and more every single day.

The prices of commodities have gone down and coming from a farming family and community, we are struggling to find a way to put crops in the ground. How are we going to make money when things are so low? How are we going to adapt to this sudden change? As many are doing, we will start the next crop season, with each seed we put in the ground, we plant a little hope. Hope that our crops will come up and our harvests will be bountiful; hope that the world will return to some sort of normal.

I do not expect the world to change back in the blink of an eye and I don’t think I would want it to. I think we have seen through all of this, what’s important; it doesn’t involve as much material stuff at all. It’s really about family, our health, spending time with those that mean the most to us, being with our friends and taking in life’s little moments.

I see the world so differently now; you take life as it comes and make the very best of it. Life may never go back to normal and I’m okay with that.