FFA student Madison Haney from Hawkins captured Champion Junior Heifer Calf with Made Marleigh in the Junior Shorthorn Heifer Show at the 2019 Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo on Jan. 26. The 2019 show is hosting junior breeding beef exhibitors from across Texas competing for awards and $36,210 in premiums.

Of the 33,000 entries at the nation’s longest-running livestock show, the livestock exhibited by the more than 11,500 junior exhibitors are among the best market animals in the country. While the livestock are impressive, one of the Show’s main objectives is to support the professional and leadership development efforts offered by the 4-H and FFA programs in Texas.

Bonuses for the livestock show total $18,750 while the Agricultural Development Fund has committed more than $79,000 in additional premiums to the barrow, breeding sheep, dairy cattle, wether lambs, wether goats, youth rabbits, youth poultry and youth dairy goats since 2015. An additional $8,000 in premiums has been added in 2019 for barrows, breeding sheep, dairy cattle, wether lambs and wether goats, for a total of $106,150 in support.

 “The Stock Show serves as a nurturing point for these future business and civic leaders,” said Stock Show President and General Manager Brad Barnes. “This commitment is a founding principle of the Stock Show and we remain humbled with the number of Texas youth who choose to exhibit in the many events at the legendary Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo.”