Straight From the Horse's Mouth

Duane A. Lienemann, UNL Extension Educator, Webster County

August 15, 2009 Edition

I would normally at this time be researching legislation or keeping an eye out for things that are affecting the agricultural arena and then putting this information this newsletter. There are a lot of things that are happening in our world that I could definitely write about and in fact I have pages of notes ready for rumination. However, I spent last weekend being a 4-H Grandfather and I thought I would shift gears somewhat and speak towards that. I have spent most of my working life being on a different end of a county fair or livestock show. This past week I had the chance to be an observer and a participant. I found it really stimulating and gratifying to be that 4-H Grandfather. It was really fun watching my grandson show his Shorthorn steer and heifer stocker feeders at the Lancaster County Fair. He even showed a goat to a high ribbon placing and to a Jr. Showmanship Championship. I didn’t get to see that, but was he a proud young man when he showed me his trophy. I did get there for the beef show and boy did the past come back. It had been awhile since I washed a calf, let alone groom it. I guess it is a bit like riding a bicycle. Even if you haven’t been on one for quite awhile, you still don’t forget how to do it. I had the opportunity to once again grab a blower and a scotch comb to help him get ready for show. I forgot how therapeutic that actually is. I did find it a lot harder however to get up from the kneeling position. I kept looking for something else I could do while I was down there! I also forgot how wet you get washing a calf, and as a result ended up with a very wet billfold – I remembered too late that you take those out when doing that task! It was also fun to watch the smile on this young man’s face when he got Champion Stocker Feeder and a big trophy. That erased the disappointment that he had in the Showmanship event where the calf didn’t want to cooperate and he was relegated to a lesser award. A big smile of accomplishment is hard to describe! Such is the value of the 4-H and FFA events like this. Young people learn that things don’t always fall in your favor, yet with hard work and perseverance you can still succeed. You could see the confidence grow each time that he was in the ring and what a difference it made. He went from disappointment and perhaps a little discouragement to confidence and a feeling of success all in the span of a few short hours. I have watched that same thing happen to many young people, for many years at livestock shows and other events that help teach young people how the “real” world works. It helps build character, perseverance, responsibility and most importantly critical thinking. They “learn from doing”, even if it entails making some mistakes. They see what they can do better and then practice that. That is still the best way to learn. It is what makes us all better human beings and members of society. We are all better off because of these opportunities that we afford these young people through things like a livestock and other shows and competition. Just so I don’t get in trouble with my grand daughter, who does not have an interest at this time in livestock – she got a purple ribbon on her sewing project (a very nice pillow) and her cooking project (cookies). She was just as proud and learned a lot of the same lessons from a different point of view. Of course Grandpa was proud of that as well and makes you remember that there are different interests than those that you normally gravitate towards that are just as important! Through livestock and other projects, youth learn life lessons and build valuable skills that help them throughout their lifetime. While caring for an animal youth learn responsibility, patience, and compassion for animals. Youth livestock shows have always been a vital part of our livestock industries. Showing livestock helps develop youth’s interest in animal agriculture and helps them become better community citizens. The experience also helps to build the livestock industry because these youth become advocates for agricultural issues. Competition, like livestock shows, provide important networking opportunities for young people to meet successful agricultural industry leaders and make friends all over the country. Youth and their parents involved in livestock shows find their experiences extremely rewarding. The youth are able to learn the business and record keeping skills necessary to run a livestock enterprise at an early age. Many of the older children learn leadership skills by showing the younger children how to properly fit and show their animals. Youth also get the opportunity to win premiums, trophies, and ribbons for showmanship, project record books, and exhibiting. The premium money can be saved for college tuition and there are many opportunities available to livestock showmen. The prizes serve as a bonus for children for all their hard work. However, nothing can compare to the youth's learning experience and the companionship they receive from their show animal. If you don’t believe me, watch a young 4-H or FFA member say goodbye to their animal at the end of its show career. I believe fully that it is a good idea for parents to help youth get involved in 4-H at a young age and to encourage them to continue these experiences. As children get older, they get busy with a myriad of school and community activities including sports practices of all kinds, baseball, soccer, and football games. It takes a really dedicated young person to keep up those 4-H and FFA activities, and those that do reap the benefits as they continue on in their quest of life. The preceding information comes from the research and personal observations of the writer which may or may not reflect the views of UNL or UNL Extension. For more further information on these or other topics contact D. A. Lienemann, UNL Extension Educator for Webster County in Red Cloud, (402) 746-3417 or email to: dlienemann2@unl.edu