In 1983, my dad took me to Weldon Walser’s farm to buy a bred Duroc gilt. \u00a0This was my introduction to the stock show world. \u00a0I farrowed a litter. Kept a barrow. \u00a0Wilbur. \u00a0He got an infected cord when he was cut and I never got to show him. \u00a0Dad had Wilbur butchered, then later fed him to the family. \u00a0It bothered me but not for long. \u00a0At that point, I was over it when it came to eating stock show critters.<\/p>\n
Over the next couple of years, I showed several pigs and then a couple of grass maggots (as they were called back then). \u00a0Dad made me show a Dorset and a Suffolk. \u00a0And I quote, “If you want a steer, you first need to show that you can take care of a lamb.” \u00a0After the lambs, he too was ready for a steer.<\/p>\n
In 1985, I had a wicked good Berkshire barrow named “Berk Reynolds”. \u00a0He had been champion a time or two and placed well at a couple of jackpots. \u00a0Then the 1985 pseudorabies outbreak hit and that was the end of showing hogs in Oklahoma for that season.<\/p>\n
But then 1986 rolled around. \u00a0Dad & I got outbid on the pig that we wanted. \u00a0So, we bought the skinny litter mate. \u00a0And that worked out well. \u00a0“Bandit” the blue butt consistently won classes and brought home cash, trophies and banners. \u00a0He was only beat in class ONCE! \u00a0Dr. Bob Hines stood him 2nd in class at Woodward District. \u00a0OK. \u00a0But, then he won a class at OKC, made the premium sale and then won a check from the carcass contest ( remember that deal?) \u00a0I also showed my steer at OKC that year. \u00a0“Ronnie”\u00a0the black baldie was a great first calf.<\/p>\n
In the fall of 1986, I showed another black baldie steer at Tulsa. \u00a0“Willard” came from the the legendary Shattuck ag teacher, Mr. W.E. Bradley, who had already been retired for a decade before I came around. \u00a0Yes, the W was for Willard. \u00a0Mr. Bradley would never tell me his middle initial after I named that first steer after him. \u00a0That steer made the premium sale at Tulsa.<\/p>\n
1986–From then on, I was over it. \u00a0I didn’t care about locals, counties, jackpots or preview shows. \u00a0I was now all about premium sales. \u00a0I didn’t have to win, hang a banner or bring home hardware. \u00a0Make the sale. \u00a0It was good.<\/p>\n
But now, I am an old ag teacher and a FORMER stock show parent. \u00a0This is NOT bragging but I have had students and kids that have shown the grand steer at OYE, the grand lamb at OYE, the grand wether goat at OYE, a couple of breed champion pigs at OYE and the grand broilers at Tulsa. \u00a0There has been success at other shows as well. \u00a0I have had first hand access to see how numerous families have managed money, followed genetics,\u00a0worked hard, built a program and worked on showmanship. \u00a0I’m not taking credit for any of the wins. \u00a0It’s just that I have been in the right place with the right people for several decades and several species.<\/p>\n
I tell you this because I have been a stock show addict in four different decades. \u00a0I’m not talking a casual user at a weekend party. \u00a0I’m talking full blown, back alley, find a vein between the toes kind of junky. \u00a0Chicken feed? \u00a0Oh yeah. \u00a0I know what to feed. \u00a0Working cattle hair? \u00a0Yeah! \u00a0 I love the smell of the products and the sound of a blower. \u00a0Sorting goats in Texas while getting sandblasted by the wind and some malicious flies clinging to my body\u2026.been there. \u00a0AIing sows in the middle of the night for a student on a Tuesday night in April. \u00a0Yep. \u00a0Clipping legs on sheep before shag became such a deal. \u00a0That too.<\/p>\n
Yet, at this point, I’m over it. \u00a0Done. \u00a0I would like to just walk away and be done with it.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
But\u2026\u2026…I can’t. \u00a0I CAN’T! \u00a0I am over all of the money, the additives, the politics and all of the extra crap that goes on in this world. \u00a0Trust me when I say that I am over that $hIt! \u00a0However, I cannot get over the fact of a kid bonding with an animal. \u00a0The work ethic that the good ones develop. \u00a0The network of people that a stock show kid develops is better than any college education. \u00a0I can’t get that image out of my head when you stop by to check a project and the kid is lying on their animal, while reading a school book. \u00a0The image of a little girl playing soccer with her prized pig will forevermore be burned into my memory.<\/p>\n
When done right, a stock show project is an oh so powerful tool. \u00a0And when done wrong, stock shows can make an old, crusty addict like myself want to go cold turkey and be “Over It”.<\/p>\n
I’m not checking into rehab yet, but there are a lot of things about the stock show industry that we could do better. \u00a0It’s not any one thing or person. \u00a0It is a group effort and as a group, we need to do better. \u00a0I need to do better.<\/p>\n
Have a good one. \u00a0And if tomorrow isn’t better, well, we will wish that it would have been.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In 1983, my dad took me to Weldon Walser’s farm to buy a bred Duroc gilt. \u00a0This was my introduction to the stock show world. \u00a0I farrowed a litter. Kept a barrow. \u00a0Wilbur. \u00a0He got an infected cord when he was cut and I never got to show him. \u00a0Dad […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/kellnlivestock.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3377"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/kellnlivestock.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/kellnlivestock.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kellnlivestock.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kellnlivestock.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3377"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/kellnlivestock.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3377\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3380,"href":"http:\/\/kellnlivestock.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3377\/revisions\/3380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/kellnlivestock.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kellnlivestock.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kellnlivestock.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}