Junior Members Making BBU Proud

By: Matt Woolfolk

By the time this article reaches your inbox, it will be junior show day at the San Antonio Stock Show.  This will be the third major stock show I’ve been able to attend this year.  At the Fort Worth Stock Show, Beefmasters were the talk of the barns all week!  When all the junior show entries were counted, the biggest show belonged to the Beefmaster breed.  As the show started at 1pm, there was not a seat to be found anywhere in the Watt Arena, with people standing all along the top of the stands fighting to see the 230-head heifer show.  With an average class size of 20 head, judge Chris Cassidy had his work cut out for him!  When the champion female was selected at 7:30pm, most of those ringside seats were still full!

In Jackson, Miss., at the Dixie National Junior Show, judge Mark Johnson was very complimentary of the depth of quality females in the heifer show, as he evaluated nearly 50 entries.  It was exciting to see Beefmaster at the top of the American breed rankings, as well as being one of the five largest breeds of the whole show.  In a state dominated by British cattle, the Beefmaster junior program is making great strides.

While the cattle in the show ring have been impressive, it’s the ones on the halter that have been superb.  I’ve had the chance to walk through the barns at these shows and visit with many of these junior members and their families.  I’ve met many polite, intelligent, hard-working young people who have a great interest in the future of our breed and the beef cattle industry.  These kids and their families work together to take care of the cattle, everyone pitching in to do their part of the work.  And while the competition can get pretty high in the show ring, these young people are forming great friendships back in the barns.  I’ve watched kids talking, laughing, playing and sometimes even working together to help each other get chores done.

I encourage each of you to find the nearest JBBA show this spring and see what these kids have to offer.  Get to know some of them and their families.  Like you, they really enjoy Beefmaster cattle and being involved in the breed.  Upcoming shows include:

San Angelo, TX: February 22

Houston: March 13

Oklahoma Youth Expo (OKC):  March 15

Tunica, MS: March 21

Austin, TX: March 27

Shreveport, LA: April 4

Crockett, TX: April 18

Brenham, TX: April 25

Swinging B/T5 Sale (Salado, TX): May 16

Groesbeck, TX: June 20

If you really want to be impressed, start making plans to be in College Station, Texas on July 20-26 for the JBBA National Show and Convention.  The largest gathering of Beefmaster cattle in 2015 will be at the Brazos County Expo Center for this exciting week-long event.  It’s worth the drive from wherever you call home to witness such an assembly of fine Beefmaster kids and cattle.