State And National Livestock Shows Explained

The Arkansas State Fair is held in Little Rock in the middle of October every year. For many in the state it is the biggest show where the best livestock are exhibited. There are six species of market animals that are shown including hogs, cattle, sheep, goats, rabbits, and chickens and numerous species of breeding animals. Shows are an opportunity to show off the best in genetics and new trends in the livestock industry.

In livestock shows, you take your animals to a ring to be judged. The judge then picks what he thinks is the best animal based off of industry standards at that time. The state fair has about 1,200 junior exhibitors and about 2,000 animals. They also have a large carnival at the fair and some really good food. This year during the fair I was able to exhibit the Grand Champion Market Hog. This is a dream that that I have been chasing for six years. My barrow’s name was Storm and we bought him from Steve Cobb and Family in Lake City, Ark. I was not the only student that had a great Arkansas State Fair. Justin Calhoon had the fifth overall steer and won a scholarship, Lily Dismang was sixth overall division two market hog and my sister, Lizzy, and I won showmanship in our age divisions.

One thing that many people do not know about showing livestock is the locations you get to experience. Two of those locations that we went to were Louisville, Ky., to the North American International Livestock Exposition and Denver, Colo., to the National Western Stock Show. The National Western has been going on for 114 years and the NAILE has been going on for 46 years. It offers kids many opportunities that you cannot get anywhere else. Showing livestock is like nothing else and is my all-time favorite activity.