Our Time Has Come to an End.

As our time together comes to an end, I hope you have learned all that you hoped about showing livestock. There is still much more that you can learn, but I strongly encourage you to go out, whether it is to a sale or to the pasture, and select your own calf. Practice looking for that stout, wide-topped, deep bodied, clean fronted calf. Whether it be a market animal or breeding animal. Then bring it to the barn to halter break it, feed it, practice with the show stick, wash it, rinse it, and clip it. This is also a good opportunity to practice on your fitting skills once they are washed, blow dried and clipped. I am challenging you to do it yourself and learn from this project. Showing cattle can be one of the most beneficial activities you have ever done. Responsibility, hard work, and many friendships have come out of showing cattle. This is one hobby that does take time, and does take money, but if you have both of those things, there is no doubt you will end up with the purple banner at the end of the chase. I know we did not get into an extreme amount of detail when it comes to fitting cattle and the products that one uses, but click HERE if you want the full run down and extreme detail on clipping and fitting. Reading this article and watching the video will create one of the best showman on the circuit. You won't regret it. 

Thank you so much for reading my blog and learning along with me. Chase those purple banners and you will get there!

"You're Better on Beef"

Happy Tuesday readers, 

As we continue in talking about showing cattle and all that comes along with the beef industry, I thought it might help to really look at some of the campaigns that are out there. Beef campaigns are ran to educate people on why eating beef and raising beef is so important. This is like the "So God Made a Farmer," campaign that ran so hot back in 2014. It was a dodge commercial that turned into an international slogan for advertising for farmers across America. These campaigns impact so many people when they are ran and may even change the views of some. 

This image is one of the ads that they ran on TV which focused on the "Iron Campaign," directed towards women. 

There was a campaign that was ran in March of 2016 that focused on woman in the beef industry. This campaign was called, "You're Better on Beef" and it really stressed the importance of how healthy it really is to eat beef. It targeted women across America and really stressed how they should feed beef to their families. "You're Better on Beef" also made women realize the importance that iron plays in there diets and focused on empowering women that are involved in the beef industry. Many think that this industry is more for men, but the American National CattleWomens Association shows that women are just as involved in this industry as men are. The "You're Better on Beef" campaign started as a social media campaign and eventually progressed into advertising in TV commercials as well as radio advertisements. The campaign focused on 2 very large times which was there "Iron Campaign," which was targeted at women and the "winter Campaign" which was focused on all people getting there essential nutrients from beef. All in all, this campaign is fairly new, but will take a huge turn for the entire beef industry by stressing all the health benefits that come along with eating beef. 

Is Showing Cattle Cruel or Educational?

4-H is a group just like the North Dakota Junior Point Show that we discussed last week, In fact many of those kids that participate in NDJPSA also participate in 4-H. What stops these groups from thriving? PETA, stands for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.There intentions are not completely bad, but they do not want to see educational events such as showing cattle, rodeos, or ranching continue. The full notion of PETA is to shut these events down for good. They even make a case that showing cattle is not only cruel for animals, but also for humans according to an Advocates for Agriculture article. They say that it is cruel to kill an animal that trusted you and that it is cruel for person that showed it as well. What they do not see is that these organizations not only teaches responsibility, but it shows these kids that participate in the groups where their food comes from, and that this is how the world goes round. Showing cattle is also much more than that, it is focusing on the best phenotypical traits for a specific breed, so whether it is a steer, or a weather (neutered male goat), that is being killed, it is also feeding people and this is how we survive. It is a much larger issue if you look at the big picture, but these are the some of the basic reasons PETA is against showing. What they do not realize is that when a child's animal is killed, that they worked so hard on, it does not mean it is easy on them. They put the time and sweat into working with these cattle everyday, they do not want to see them go, but they also were taught that this is how it works. All in all, PETA is a risk to groups like 4-H, FFA, and the NDJPSA, but still have no means in shutting any of these groups down.

North Dakota Junior Point Show Association

The North Dakota Junior Point Show Association is a group in North Dakota consisting of kids with a passion for showing livestock; cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs. This group puts on shows in North Dakota through out the winter and summer for anyone to go to. You do not have to be in the NDJPSA to participate. The point of this association is for those who are in the group to go to the shows and accumulate points as they have success with their livestock. This group has a Facebook page to keep members up to date with the shows that are coming up as well as the meetings. If you are not able to make it to a meeting, any new decision that was made at the meetings will be posted to the Facebook page to keep everyone in the group informed. Lastly, the group keeps you updated on how many points you have accumulated through out the year. This helps you know what place you are in with other kids in the group and if you are in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place, you will receive prizes at the end of the year. Just click on North Dakota Junior Point Show Association to view their Facebook page.

Overall, this Facebook page keeps everyone in the group very well informed in all aspects. The only negative side I do see to only using Facebook as a source is not being able to reach the information to those who do not use Facebook. Some things that could change would be to appoint a secretary to send out monthly news letters, as reminders for those especially that do not use Social Media.
Below is a photo of the group of kids that participated in the point shows in North Dakota last year and have continued with it this coming show year. This group is also an amazing way to meet friends who also participate in the show circuit.