Competition is avenue for kids’ successes 

By CAROLYN ROST | South Central Texas Edition

Jake Marler, 12, works to get his hog, Johnnie, moving through the holding gates at the recent Bexar County Junior Livestock Show. -- Staff photo by Carolyn Rost

Jan. 19, 2006 - The new year has arrived and with it brings the start of competitions at many junior livestock shows across the state. One of the largest county shows, the Bexar County Junior Livestock Show, kicked off the season Jan. 3 with a tremendous amount of interest from kids in both 4-H and FFA.

�We had over 800 head of hogs, almost 400 head of market goats, 70 steers, 96 head of turkeys, 103 head of chickens, and a little over 100 rabbit entries,� said Clarence Sultenfuss, president of the Bexar County Junior Livestock Show board, at the show�s conclusion on Jan. 7. �We are probably one of the largest county shows anywhere around. I�d say in the state.�

With over 2,800 entries, many 4-H and FFA members and their parents devoted a lot of time last year to get ready for this early 2006 show. Preparation for this year’s show began soon after the ending of the 2005 Bexar County Junior Livestock Show. 

�We have a tremendous group of parents that come in and assist us with this show,� said Sultenfuss.�

Matthew Brown (left), 17, and Drew Pieniazek, 16, with East Central FFA earned the overall ag mechanics champion title at the show. -- Staff photo by Carolyn Rost

Keeping busy year round with their show animals and projects is noted as helping kids stay out of trouble. “These are kids we don’t have to chase on the street some where,” the board president added. 

Assisting the kids with their show animals throughout the year is one of the jobs of the county’s Texas Cooperative Extension agent. Jerry Warren, Bexar County Extension agent - agriculture, said selection for sheep, goats and steers started in March of last year after the major livestock shows concluded.

First, the 4-H’er or FFA’er must decide which livestock show(s) they will compete in. Some opt for competing in county-level and major shows with the same animal, but timing the animal’s age for the shows is important.

�We tell the kids to have an idea where you are going to show and then you select the kind of animal you want to buy,� said Warren. �You buy your animal ... with a timeline in mind of when you think you are going to show. If you are going to show in Houston or Austin, you would buy a lot younger animal or wait a little longer to buy it than you would if showing in Fort Worth or San Antonio.�

For kids who want to show turkeys or chickens, Warren pointed out orders are submitted to one location. Orders are filled from chicks hatched on the very same day to help keep the competition fair. Each exhibitor is allowed to get 25 or 50 in a bunch and then only three are chosen for the show.

Besides the livestock projects, 4-H’ers and FFA’ers also have a chance to compete with their agricultural mechanics projects. For the first time at the Bexar County event, agricultural mechanics, as well as foods and nutrition, were added to the competition venue. A total of 41 entries competed for the top prize in the ag mechanics show.

Ray Pieniazek, ag teacher at East Central High School, said since the kids were getting their projects ready for the major shows, the county show offered them a chance to display their work and get some feedback. 

�One of the reasons (to enter the county show) was to get some critiques so if there were some modifications that they needed to do, they�d have time to get that done,� said Pieniazek.�

Pieniazek commented that the kids started on their projects early in the school year and even spent countless hours over the Christmas-New Year break to get their projects ready for show. The show’s overall grand champion winners in the ag mechanics competition, Drew Pieniazek and Matthew Brown, probably spent 300 to 400 hours on their 10-foot hydraulic shredder, added the teacher.

With the success of the county’s first ag mechanics show, Pieniazek looks forward to more entries in the future.

�We�ll definitely have more entries. We�ll get the kids started earlier on their projects so they can get them displayed ... because it�s a big part of ag programs in our county. We run probably 140 students through our ag mechanics programs here at East Central High School.�

In the eyes of Sultenfuss, Warren, and Pieniazek, the Bexar County Junior Livestock Show was once again a success. Seeing pride in the kids, over the work they accomplished, is what it’s all about, said Pieniazek. 

�The kids did a great job,� said Sultenfuss. �4-H and FFA - we can�t ask for anything better than that.�