Everyone has their stock show crew. Their buddies. Pals that have specific talents. These six friends will definitely heighten your stock show experience. Tech Guy There’s an online sale. You HAVE to get those online registrations in for the Jr. Nationals TONIGHT! A new season of “The Ranch” just dropped on Netflix. But your stupid phone, your laptop or tablet just won’t connect. Isn’t there internet everywhere?! You start to panic. Calm down and find the tech guy. His hands may be stained with Maxx Black, his knees may be dirty from kneeling under a heifer all day, but he knows his 3Gs, 4Gs, broadband and Wi-Fi. He can get…
Posted on March 22, 2018
Valerie LeMonte
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“Guys this livestock showing is special. It’s not a hobby, I don’t care what you say, it is not a hobby. It is a way of life. And to be out here in this ring is work,” – Andrew Rash spoke these words just a few weeks ago at the Indiana State Fair Hog Show, but Austin Pullins represented these words a few weeks ago at the Athens County fair in Ohio. And a young man, Noah Cox, exemplified these words in the way he lived. This is not a hobby and to think it is, well I guess you just haven’t had the opportunity to fully understand yet. (Photo:…
Posted on August 24, 2017
Valerie LeMonte
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It’s so much easier. Way easier. It’s why so many of us fall into the trap. If I had a nicer showbox, I could fit my calf. If I had a bigger budget, I would win more lamb shows. If I had a fancier trailer, I could do better with my pigs. It’s so much easier to wish we had all these things we believe will make a difference, but when you’re in the ring, the judge sees you and your animal. And all your work at home makes a huge difference in what the judge sees that day. All the early mornings, the washing, rinsing, brushing, walking, and feeding…
Posted on August 11, 2017
Marlene Eick
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Last week I was on a video shoot with B.J. We arrived at our destination about 20 minutes early, so rather than surprise our hosts before they were expecting us, I turned the car around and headed to a little roadside rest I remembered passing just a few miles back. It was one of those little areas alongside a state route, just a patch of gravel and a picnic table. I pulled in and parked the car, ready to check email and go over my notes for the shoot once more. But then I saw a little marker off to the side of the parking area. It looked like a…
Posted on July 13, 2017
Marlene Eick
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Your heifer or gilt obviously plays a critical role while at the show all week in Springfield, Grand Island, Des Moines, Madison, Lexington, Louisville, Stillwater, or St. Paul. But what are YOU doing in the time you’re not spending with a halter or pig whip in hand? May I offer some suggestions? Meet new people. You never know who is in the stalls or pens nearby. They might be from the next county over in your home state or live a few hundred miles from you. They might be your future classmate in college, a fellow intern during your undergraduate years, or the friend you never knew you needed. You’ll…
Posted on June 01, 2017
Marlene Eick
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I showed a pig for the first time in 1985 at the Hancock County Fair in Findlay, Ohio. It was the open barrow show and I had been given a pig earlier in the summer to check on each evening and claim for my own. I was two and a half years old and couldn’t really pronounce “barrow” so I referred to my pig as “barrel” and that became its name – Barrel the Pig. I don’t remember this myself, of course, but this is how my parents tell it. At the fair, my uncle helped me show my barrow, which is likely to say that I followed my uncle…
Posted on April 20, 2017
Marlene Eick
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A few years ago, my oldest niece, Sophie, who lives in Colorado with her family, acquired her first chicken. To say she fell in love would be the understatement of the decade. In late 2015, I was out visiting her and her younger sister on their little farm on the Front Range. She had just turned six years old then and was already a chicken expert. Soon after I arrived on my visit, I was given a full tour of the farm and introduced to every animal on it – by name and with a full description of its breed, sex, current gestation status, and health condition. But the chickens…
Posted on April 06, 2017
Marlene Eick
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Just a few weeks ago I attended the Tulsa State Fair no longer as an exhibitor but as just a spectator this time. I walked passed what used be our stall and as I saw a new set of cattle and a new set of people stalled there now, I found myself smiling and remembering all of the memories that I got to experience at this show with my family and friends. It was so nice to be able to walk around and see so many people that I haven’t seen in what seems like forever. I also came to the realization that I had no idea who some of…
Posted on October 26, 2016
Taylor Banbury
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Yesterday I was at a stock show. I saw show halters, combs, and nervous exhibitors. I saw pump sprayers, show sticks, and game faces. I saw shampoos, adhesives, blankets, blowers, fans, showboxes, chutes, stands, and fitting mats. I also saw high-five’s, handshakes, slaps on the back, smiles, and hugs. And my favorite scene? As a swine exhibitor returned to the pens after his class, his friends made a human tunnel in the aisle for him to walk through with his pig. Oh, sure, there was intense competition going on, no doubt about it, but there was also an encouraging community present – exhibitors congratulating one another, kids cheering for one…
Posted on September 12, 2016
Marlene Eick
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Some of my fondest memories are loading up in the truck with my dad and younger brothers to head to a jackpot show. Chilly mornings, cramped truck rides, and then a day full of showing pigs always made for memorable trips. One weekend I had gotten frustrated, though, and Dad gave me a little pep talk by telling me about some girls older than me who had been very successful in the showring and industry. I didn’t know them but he referred to them as “the Bentley girls” and I understood that the youngest of these sisters was about five or so years older than me. Fast forward to my…
Posted on July 21, 2016
Marlene Eick
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With each passing week as the summer rolls on, another junior national comes to a close and more county fairs have named their champions. Maybe you won the banner. Maybe you won your class. Maybe you didn’t bring home any new hardware. Maybe you worked the better part of a year on this project and now feel like you’ve got nothing to show for it. “But winning is not the point.” Pat Summitt, legendary women’s basketball coach, passed away recently and, among the many articles and tributes I read in the days following her death, I came across a column dated June 28, 2016, in the Washington Post written by…
Posted on July 15, 2016
Marlene Eick
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Can you believe summer is flying by already? World Pork Expo just wrapped up last week and national junior heifer shows kick off this weekend! If you’re participating in a speaking contest this summer at a junior national event or your local county fair, we’ve got some tips on nailing the delivery. Good luck! Plant your feet, unless it’s meaningful. Extra movement that doesn’t add anything to your message can be very distracting. You’re much better off to deliver your speech with fewer, meaningful movements rather than walk constantly throughout your delivery. So, set a “home base” that your feet adhere to when not intentionally moving. I’ve judged quite a…
Posted on June 17, 2016
Marlene Eick
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