“Why show livestock? Isn’t it expensive? Isn’t it stressful? Isn’t it hard?” While the answers to those questions might be a yes, the experiences and life lessons you will have and learn as a showman are priceless. Showing livestock helps our young people blossom into responsible, respectful, hardworking, and hopeful people to continue to support and encourage the future of the livestock industry.
Nowadays, finding responsible, respectful, hardworking, and hopeful people is quite the task. As ashamed as I am to admit that I am a part of a generation in which most of these high-end qualities are lacking, I am so grateful I was able to show livestock to set me apart from most of my peers. Showing livestock encourages young people to learn valuable life lessons through hard work and dedication. It helps young people find confidence in themselves and learn what kind of people they like to be surrounded by and which ones they don’t. It even helps young people develop a passion for a dying industry. The life lessons learned, the memories made, and the relationships built along the way will leave a lifelong impression on a showman’s future simply as a human, a mother, a father, a friend, a coworker, an employee, without a doubt anything. Why Show Livestock? It teaches our young people to show up, to be tough, to work hard, to be responsible, to communicate, to be passionate, and to be great humans.