This is What Showing Livestock is All About

Stock show kids are cut from a different mold. Driven by a purpose greater than themselves, they know it's up to them to help their animals thrive. I don’t know why this changes something in them, but it seems to equip them with an internal drive to push harder and work longer than others. In the end, they walk with a greater confidence and perspective. 

I think that’s why I love writing about young people who show livestock. Although their stories are different, common themes emerge.

• A desire to help other people. 
• A willingness to ask questions and seek to improve. 
• A relentless pursuit of their dreams. 
• A commitment to work harder than expected.
• A belief in passing on what they’ve learned to others.
   

Here's a look back at some of the stock show stories that caught readers' attention in 2022:

Lucky Penny Sells for $17,000 in OYE Night of Stars Gilt Sale

The crowd roared when Caroline Gaye walked into the Night of Stars Gilt Sale at the Oklahoma Youth Expo (OYE) with her Duroc gilt, Penny. Penny is just not some pig – nor is Caroline Gaye just another 16-year-old showman. This power team proved you don’t have to spend the most to win big at one of the biggest pig shows in the U.S.

With a lot of hard work and a lot of love, Gaye and her family at the Tipton Children’s Home in southwest Oklahoma, drove Penny the Duroc to a third-place overall finish in the Duroc Show at the 2022 OYE Purebred Gilt Show, earning her the 46th slot in the sale where the top 2% of gilts exhibited are sold to swine breeders across the country. 

The Tipton Children's Home provides kids with the opportunity to have a safe and secure home. Kids are placed at the home by their parents or grandparents or other situations such as foster care. Coming to the Tipton Children’s Home was an opportunity for Gaye to find her niche within her local FFA chapter and the swine barn.  Read more here.

Teenager Who Survives Brain Cancer Raises Over $30,000 for St. Jude Showing Pigs

When Maddie Barber was 12 years old, she started to have trouble with balance and coordination. All of a sudden, she couldn’t serve a volleyball. She stumbled into walls when she was walking. She slipped going up and down the stairs. 

“I developed periodic double vision and headaches. My symptoms just kept getting worse and then I started vomiting each morning. My parents thought I probably was developing migraines like my aunt did at my age,” Maddie explains. 

Her pediatrician was very concerned about the symptoms and scheduled her for a follow-up a few days later. In just those few days, her symptoms progressed. 

“My headaches got so bad I would hold my head and scream in pain. When we went for the follow-up appointment, my pediatrician ordered an emergency MRI of my brain. The scan showed a tumor about the size of an avocado seed in my brain, and it was growing into my brain stem,” Maddie says. 

The Barbers’ world changed in an instant.  Read the full story here.

Community Rallies to Support 4-H Family, Buys Pig for $102,000 

The crowd roared, tears rolled and the auctioneer was at a loss for words as 10-year-old Hudson Duttlinger’s 300-pound Reserve Grand Champion Breeding Gilt sold for $102,000 – $340 a pound at the Porter County Fair 4-H Livestock Auction on July 28 in Valparaiso, Ind.

“That moment was amazing and bittersweet,” says Eric Duttlinger, Hudson’s father. 

He heard rumblings their community was coming together to do something to honor his wife, Ashlee, who was fighting a courageous battle against colon cancer. She was diagnosed several years ago. Her cancer went into remission, but it came back with a vengeance.  

“It’s been an up and down battle for years, but never once has Ashlee had a bad attitude about anything in life,” wrote close family friend Jonathan Kraft on the GoFundMe page he and his wife, Anna, started to create the Duttlinger Family Scholarship Fund. Read the rest of the story here.

No, Showing Livestock Isn't Always Supposed to Be Fun

Showing livestock is supposed to be fun. But if we are really honest with ourselves, like all good things, it has its moments.

It’s fun when the livestock stay healthy.
It’s fun when the trailer tires don’t blow. 
It’s fun when the kids don’t fight (and parents, too).
It’s fun when it’s not too hot and it’s not too cold.
It's fun when you win.

But when the loss strikes, the animals get sick and the kids fight, no one can really say that’s “fun.” 

Worth it? I think so. Read the rest of the story here.

4-H Steer Sells 39 Times to Honor 18-Year-Old's Life

Daniel Spitzer had three loves in his life: Jesus, family/friends and cowboying. But his sister likes to joke that his true love was his horse, Lena.

“He just lived life to the fullest every day. He didn’t care what others thought of him. If he liked it, he went with it,” says Hannah Lonker of Pratt, Kan.

When a tragic ATV accident took Spitzer’s life on July 4, the entire community mourned one of their best gone too soon at the age of 18. He showed cattle at the Pratt County Fair and was active in 4-H horse, leadership and citizenship projects, too. He had been working with his steer all summer in preparation for his last county fair steer show.  Read the full story.

Texas Tornado Destroys Ag Shop, But Doesn’t Stop FFA Members From Helping Community

A line of storms snaked through north and central Texas, resulting in several tornadoes along the Interstate 35 corridor. About 60 miles northwest of Fort Worth, an F3 tornado touched down outside of Jacksboro at 3:45 p.m., ripping buildings to shreds, including the local high school, elementary school and ag shop.

“I felt so helpless,” says Kevin Thomas, ag teacher at Jacksboro Independent School District. 

Thomas had left school to pick up his truck and trailer at his farm about 12 miles away when the tornado hit.

“I knew it hit my ag shop and there was nothing I could do,” he says. “Two co-teachers and 20 students were in the ag shop practicing for judging contests. All I could do was pray that nothing happened to them. Yes, they were capable, but my nature is to take care of things and when I couldn’t ...” Find out what happened next.