130 county youth to exhibit projects in Jan. 21-22 show
By Sam Waller
A total of 130 FFA and 4-H members from Albany and Moran will exhibit 236 animal entries this weekend at the Shackelford County Youth and Livestock Show.
“As usual, we’ve got some folks doubling up on their entries,” Shackelford Youth and Livestock Association president Bronco Askew said, “but they’re able to sell only one animal in the auction.”
Entries include 90 Albany FFA members, 23 Moran FFA members and 41 members of the Shackelford County 4-H Club. Some students have dual membership.
Activities get underway at 4:00 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 20 (today) with weigh-in for swine, sheep and goats at the county show barn. Exhibiting will begin with hogs at 8:00 a.m. Friday, Jan. 21, followed by goats and then lambs that afternoon.
Rabbits and chickens will be weighed in Friday afternoon with cattle entries weighed in starting at 7:00 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 22.
“Those with heifers will need to have their papers checked to make sure they are the correct owners,” Askew said. “Steers will be weighed in and divided into weight classes.”
Friday’s schedule has goats and sheep following the hog show. The cattle show starts at 8:00 a.m. Saturday with heifers, followed by steers, chickens, and rabbits.
Swine exhibitors will be vying for breed championships with those animals then judged for the show’s overall grand champion.
“The next in place in the class that the grand champion came out of will compete for reserve champion with the rest of the breed champions,” Askew said.
Class winners in the other species will also be judged for grand champion with the same rule applying for reserve champion.
Exhibitors will compete for showmanship honors in junior and senior age groups for each species.
Following the final judging, sale of the animals will begin at 1:00 p.m. Saturday with Mike Parsons serving as the main auctioneer.
“We’ll start off with the champion calf, then hog, goat, and sheep champions,” Askew said. “We try to get those breed champion hogs up toward the front of the sale.”
Fundraising
The association had raised approximately $25,000 to cover expenses for the event, according to association treasurer Molly Cauble on Tuesday.
“I just want to thank everybody for contributing to make our show a success this year and helping out as Albany has always done,”Askew said.
Cauble said contributions will be accepted until the show starts.
“We buy the ribbons and provide the prize money,” Cauble said. “Whatever’s left over goes to the kids as part of the bidders pool.”
Cauble said late donations will help cover costs for the concession stand, which will be open throughout the show and sale.
“Prices for supplies and other items have gone up,” she said. “If anyone wants to donate to the concession stand, that would be helpful.”
The fundraising effort includes raffle tickets for a 12-gauge shotgun and a processed hog. Tickets may be purchased from any Shackelford County ag student, FFA member, or 4-H member until the sale starts Saturday.
For the hog, which is being provided by Deep Creek Trading Post of Moran, tickets are $1 each or six for $5. For the shotgun, tickets are $5 each or five for $20.
Auction Facts
Now that the annual show is almost underway, the main focus for stock show organizers is gathering a large number of bidders for Saturday’s auction.
The bidders pool monies are divided among the projects entered in the sale, using a formula based on weight.
After the floor price, or market price per pound, is established, various packers arrange for actual purchase of the animals. Any bids received at the sale are added on top of the floor price.
Association rules state that flat $3, $5 and $10 increments will be used in the “add-on” bidding, rather than amounts per pound.
Rabbits and poultry projects will be raised at $3 for each bid, while sheep, swine and goats will be bid at $5 increments. Steers and heifers are raised $10 with each bid.
Anyone planning to bid during the sale should register for a bidder’s card prior to the auction.
Packers purchase many of the projects, but a few pigs are usually available for purchase by individuals.
Those interested in buying a hog should contact Chris Beard, or stop by the office at the show barn before 9:00 a.m. on Friday.
Work Day
County FFA and 4-H members helped get the show barn ready with a work day on Saturday, Jan. 15.
“We put new plywood down the sides and on top,” Albany FFA advisor Chris Beard said. “We cleaned everything we could and set up holding pens for pigs in the arena. Everything went according to plan, and we finished pretty quickly.”
