Jr. Livestock Show readied

The 2021 Wood County Junior Livestock Show will have a new look this year. In fact, it should have many new looks as it will thankfully return to the arena in Golden, but will also incorporate expanded virtual coverage. 

Folks are buzzing about bringing the actual livestock show back after a year which saw the show be conducted remotely. Already with well over 100 entries, the students of Alba-Golden, Hawkins, Mineola, Quitman, Winnsboro and Yantis are gearing up for the big event.

Action commences on Wednesday, March 31 with a breeding show and concludes Saturday, April 3 with the market auction. April 1 and 2 will be the market and mechanics shows. All events will be live broadcast and streamed.

Two significant changes have been incorporated into this year’s events.

As Alba-Golden agriculture teacher Richard Lovorn explained, “A specialized breeding show was added to this year’s event due to the large number of people in the county who manage breeding programs for income.”

He explained that it highlights specific physical characteristics in the sheep, goats, gilts and heifers brought to the show. 

The second major change is the leverage of all that the organizers learned last year through the remote broadcast of the show. Lovorn recounted that it was in large part due to the efforts of Alba’s Grant Sadler and Mineola’s Shane Elmore that the event will have internet available on-site and be covered live over the internet. People’s Telephone will be providing the connectivity at Golden’s Pierce Boyd Arena.

Having been involved in all but the first few Wood County Livestock Shows, Lovorn has years of experience working the county-wide event.

“The local support of our ag projects just overwhelms me…the local folks truly see the value in what the young people are doing,” he said. 

The product of a Central Texas upbringing, Lovorn studied agriculture at Tarleton State in Stephenville, and taught agriculture at Winnsboro High School for 30 years. He came out of retirement to run the Alba-Golden program. 

“I love what we are trying to do with our ag programs. The process of caring for and nurturing a young animal in a competitive environment teaches responsibility, work ethic and time management,” he explained. “And based on the number of new hires into high school agriculture programs in our Wood County schools, the ag programs are thriving.” 

They certainly are thriving at Alba-Golden school, where 60% of the student population is affiliated with the agriculture program to some degree.   

The commitment of Alba-Golden school to agri-science can be seen by watching the construction now underway on the hill just south of the campus. The new Agriculture Project Facility being built on the site will be a state-of-the-art, multi-purpose facility, and no doubt a source of great pride for the school. 

Lovorn foresees four fundamental uses for the facility: as a site to host animal projects, as a living classroom for animal husbandry, as a place to host workshops and clinics, and as a place where the teaching of agriculture can be extended to younger and younger students. 

As he has aged, Lovorn admitted that he has become more and more convinced in the necessity for agricultural education. The ever-increasing human population of the planet demands it, he shared. 

The Junior Livestock Show represents a very practical method to enhance the understanding of agriculture. It also offers students the possibility of bringing home a monetary reward through the market auction. 

That auction price is a unique thing. It is so much more than simply a price paid for an animal. The auction price is often a means by which community members underwrite the agri-science projects of the Future Farmers of America and 4-H program.  

This specific manner of fundraising has been so successful that “floor-priced buyers” are arranged in advance so that a fair market value can be realized and offset the investment of the bidders. It is beautiful in its simplicity and serves the young farmer, the agri-science programs and the community.

At larger livestock shows, such as Houston, limits have actually been placed on the maximum amount a student can realize from a winning bid. The limits however do not prevent already very large winnings. 

The winning at a Junior Livestock Show comes at many levels. It may be overcoming the many challenges of bringing that 5-week old broiler to market or caring for that dairy heifer for seven long months or raising a steer for a whole year. As Lovorn pointed out, it nurtures responsibility, work ethic and time management – a winning combination.

The 2021 version of the show will likely be the last one to be conducted in Golden for some time. The participating agriculture programs have recently decided to conduct the annual event in Quitman. The school organizing the show each year will continue to rotate alphabetically, but the location will remain at the county seat. 

Next week, however, the big show will be in Golden. There will be something for everyone. In addition to the animal husbandry, the ever-popular mechanics show will be back. Mechanics projects will be shown in the classes of trailers, agriculture machinery, shop equipment, livestock and wildlife equipment, furniture and fire pits.