Months of preparation, fundraising and fine-tuning go into every FFA and 4H event: something which has paid off for several students as of late. At the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo, several students involved in these agriculture and construction-based competitions won various awards and titles.
One student in particular, sophomore Landri Lain, won the title of Junior Grand Champion for her wether lamb, Panda.
“She was crying, her dad was crying, her mom was crying,” sophomore Macie Baker said. “Everybody was hugging her, and there were people taking photos. We were so proud of her.”
Lain’s lamb was purchased for $100,000 by LKCM Headwater and LKCM Capital Group.
“I was really confident because [the lamb] had done pretty good since we’ve had him,” Lain said.
Lain’s experience with Panda goes far beyond just showing him at competitions every couple of weeks; she has raised, fed, trained and nurtured Panda for years before he was ready for show.
“We get the lambs when they’re pretty little, then we just have to train them,” Lain said. “They work out, get on the treadmill; we have to wash them constantly. It’s definitely 2 hours a day of work.”
At another competition, the Tarrant County Junior Livestock Show, three other FFA teams won titles in the Ag Mech II and Ag Mech III divisions, with junior RJ Rutledge also receiving a Best in Show award.
Agricultural Mechanics teacher Bradley Merck assists the students in preparation for these competitions both in and out of the classroom.
“Coming from a background in Ag Mech,” Merck said. “I can really inspire students that they can build something big.”
In these mechanics competitions, students must construct anything from a large-scale hay hauler to a custom-engraved smoker using fundraised materials, their construction knowledge and lots of manual labor and welding.
“We built a round bay hauler straight up from the ground,” senior and Reserve Champion Koen Remley said. “We did it in the Ag Shop and it took us 4 weeks to build.”
Whether you are interested in pursuing a career in agriculture or simply just love a hands-on learning experience, FFA and agriculture courses might be the way to go.
