East Texas FFA students compete in Henderson County Livestock Show
HENDERSON, Texas (KETK) – Young East Texans flocked to the Henderson County Livestock Show to show off their animals and projects.
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The students worked hard to compete for scholarships and other awards in different divisions, such as, the Herdsmen category.
The Herdsmen Award covers a wide range of criteria including, cleanliness of area, walks and appearance of animals.
“You can’t just go in there, drop feed and walk out, you have to you have to put in effort if you want to succeed,” Corbin Pogue, Malakoff FFA student in the swine divison, said.
It takes days of preparation to make sure their chosen animal and holding space is pristine for the judges.
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“We use baby oil and we rub the combs. The feet, we use a toothbrush and water to scrub the feet, and a silk pillowcase to do the feathers, so they shine,” Lilian Johnson, LaPoyner FFA student in the chicken division, said.
The daily work takes students weeks, months and even years at a time, but they say its worth it and truly a labor of love.
“I love to do it, that’s what I love doing. We live on a farm, that’s just what we do,” Johnson said.
With rising costs across the board their around-the-clock care has become a costly passion.
“Bags of feed went up probably about $2, which adds up when you’re buying a lot at one time,” Pogue said.
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Students have been in this industry for years and they said no matter how the economy looks, they will do what is necessary.
“I had to get it because if you’re out of feed, you’re out of feed,” Aubrey Burkham, Brownsboro FFA student in the goat division, said.
Students said they will adjust their budgets to show off their animals with great pride in the hopes of making it to sale.
The live stock show ends on Saturday, with the highly anticipated auction to begin at 1 p.m.
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