Auction bids not yet tallied
By Kathy Thomson
The 2020 Shackelford County Youth and Livestock Association county livestock show and sale was held at the county show barn last weekend, Jan. 24-25, and according to association president Bronco Askew, the show was a success.
“We had a great show,” said Askew. “Of course, we don’t have final money totals yet, but pre-sale Bidders Pool donations were up, and overall we had a good turnout. In addition, it was almost unbelievable how great the weather was!”
Shackelford County’s new AgriLife extension agent Kloey Painter was also pleased with the show.
“The competition was steep,” Painter said, “but at the end of the day, everybody treated each other like family.”
One hundred and twenty-four exhibitors registered 256 entries in the annual show last weekend, down from the 275 registered by 137 youth in 2019.
New for 2020
The biggest change in the show this year was moving the rabbit and poultry classes to Saturday.
“The new format seemed to work well, and we were still able to start the sale by 1:00 p.m.,” said Askew. “However, we don’t know yet if we will use this schedule in the future or not. It’s too soon to tell.”
Another modification in the 2020 schedule was presenting all of the showmanship belt buckles on Saturday and the addition of an acknowledgement of senior exhibitors shortly before the premium sale.
“We wanted to have something kind of like ‘senior night’ is for the athletic teams,” said Askew.
While the seniors were showing in their last county show, Painter was helping to put on the SCYLA stock show for her first time.
Painter has been a county agent for three years, but she started working in Shackelford County just last fall.
“This was my favorite county stock show yet,” she said. “Everybody helps each other. I loved and appreciated that.”
Different from last year, the premium sale was moved back to the traditional 1:00 p.m. time slot.
Like 2019, instead of arranging for a catered barbecue meal before the sale, the concession stand was relied on as the only on-site food option and was open throughout the show.
This year, volunteers served around 250-275 hamburgers and 275 pounds of curly fries, according to Debra Boyett, who organized the concessions along with Tisha Wilkins.
Also new to the show this year were classes for Dorper hair sheep, dark crossbred barrows, and light crossbred barrows.
Facts and Figures
By Saturday, Jan. 25, at the end of the auction, the bidders pool collections and pledges, which includes the $12,000 needed for basic expenses, added up to $28,300, said Cauble, SCYLA treasurer.
The final amount donated for the animals sold in the auction will not be known for a couple of weeks, as some numbers still need to be tallied, and typically a few late additions to the sale pledges come in after the show.
After the basic expenses are covered, the additional funds are allocated to the bidders pool, and are divided among the projects entered in the sale, using a formula based on weight.
Each exhibitor is allowed to take only one animal or project through the auction ring, where a combination of base price, bidder pool premium, and live add-on bids result in the total sale price that will be presented to the youth at the Buyer-Seller Banquet.
“We always allow a little time for the donors to get their pledges mailed in,” said Askew. “We are hoping to schedule the banquet sometime during the first part of April. But with various sports, spring holidays, Fandangle, and other activities, we always have a little trouble coming up with a good date.”
Pledges Needed
Cauble reminded local contributors that donation commitments need to be honored.
“We’ve already added the pledges into our totals, so in order for all this to work the way it’s supposed to, those promises have to be kept,” she said.
Statements are going out in the mail for the unpaid pledges, and live bidders who did not settle their accounts at the show will also receive their statements soon.
Donors Appreciated
“I am thankful for all the buyers and donors who reward the kids for their hard work and their dedication to their animals,” said Albany ag sponsor Chris Beard. “I can’t thank the people enough for coming out and supporting the kids. Shackelford County always does a great job helping their kids to be successful.”
Volunteers Thanked
Askew was also grateful to the many contributors.
“I especially want to thank all the volunteers, including the SCYLA officers and directors, for the wonderful job they do,” the president said. “Molly Cauble did a great job of getting most of the sale catalog put together the night before, and then adding the cattle, rabbits, and poultry as soon as those classes were judged on Saturday morning. And I want to make sure and thank the Albany Volunteer Fire Department for spraying to keep the dust down.”
Mike Parsons and Monte Lewis were thanked for serving as auctioneers, along with Kalico Leech, Jamie Parsons, Kimberly Edgar, Ginny Ivy, Jo Hise, and Tamara Trail for recording pledges and Gayala Askew and Heather Snyder for volunteering in the office and at the bidders table.
“I want to thank all the volunteers behind the scenes,” Beard said, “not only the bidders, but also those people who donated their time working in the concession stand, the photographers who came out both days of the show, and all the parents and others who helped clip and haul animals. It is awesome the way the people of this community support the show and the sale.”
Judging
Brad Bevel from Stamford judged the show again this year. Also judging part of the show was Zachary Wilcox from Nolan County.
Wilcox selected winners in the swine, goat, and sheep classes on Friday. Bevel evaluated the cattle, rabbit, and poultry classes on Saturday.
“Bevel was here last year,” Askew said. “Wilcox has judged our show before, but it’s been a few years. I think they like to judge here because we have such a fabulous concession stand for them to eat at.”
Champion Animals
J.T. Holland exhibited the grand champion steer for the 10th year in a row, while Gracie Price claimed grand champion heifer.
Tatum Grady’s Duroc was selected as the grand champion barrow, and Slayton Parsons’s dark cross gilt was overall champion gilt.
Conner Clark showed the grand champion wether, and Paisley Clark had the grand champion doe goat.
Brayden Sullivan topped out the sheep entries with both the grand champion market lamb and the grand champion ewe for the second year in a row.
Blaine Kayga had the grand champion market rabbit, and champion buck rabbit honors went to Ethan Green, while Morgan Garcia exhibited grand champion doe rabbit.
Judge Bevel awarded the grand champion poultry banner to Blanton Belcher.
Complete results from the 2020 stock show are listed in the special section included with this issue.
