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Raising a show calf takes considerable time and money |
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Written by Administrator
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Friday, 12 March 2010 20:54 |
By Weston Bates
Hugo High School
Student Reporter
Every year all over America, students will buy a show animal that they will be able to demonstrate for their local FFA or 4-H. When you show animals, you can either raise your own or buy one from somebody that raises them to sell.
I will focus on the cost of a show calf and what you have to do to keep it healthy and ready to show. There is never really a break between the show seasons, as soon as you get through showing one animal, you have to have one that you raised ready or go shopping for one.
Here in Oklahoma there are many people who raise certain breeds of show calves. Also, there are sales and auctions set up especially for selling show calves to people looking. Whenever you go to one of these sales you will have a wide variety of breeds of calves, but this also means that there will be some very good calves there that will cost a lot more than some of the others there.
However, if you do not have the money to buy a $5,000 calf, there are calves out there that haven’t been discovered by anyone yet and will sometimes be very cheap. As you are reading this, you are probably asking yourself how much it costs to be involved in showing calves. A good show calf around here may cost $3,000 but I have won grand champion with a calf that I bought for $900, and of course there are calves out there that will cost $15,000 but this will enable you to win a lot more shows than just your county show.
Once you have bought the calf you like, you will need to set up shelter for it and feed and water it every day. Although this may sound simple and easy, it actually is very complicated at times. There are certain types of show feeds that you can feed your calf, but, like most calves, the better they are the more they cost. This also applies to the feed.
If you show a steer, there is a starter and finisher feed, a starter feed is a feed that keeps them healthy and helps them gain weight. A finisher feed is a feed that puts fat on the ribs of the steer.
If you show a heifer, you have beet pulp to put in your feed, which you can wet down and it will fill them up better.
Also, if you would like to do well with your calf, you should feed, water and exercise it everyday. To exercise it, you can walk it around the pin you have it in.
However this is not the only thing you have to do, you need to wash it and blow dry it. You can buy blowdryers that are specially designed for show calves. You do this because it helps keep the hair trained to stand up and easier to clip. You can watch some of the local shows around Hugo to see if you would like to compete. |
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Spring Break means OYE for ag students |
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Written by Administrator
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Friday, 19 February 2010 20:12 |
By Weston Bates
Hugo High School
Student Reporter
OYE stands for the Oklahoma Youth Expo, which has been dubbed as the world’s largest youth livestock show. Every year students all over America have a chance to join their local 4-H or FFA if they are in high school. While in one of these groups, students can show animals. Most students show beef, swine, lamb and goats.
At the end of the show year there are many large shows known as expos. Here in Oklahoma, we have the OYE, but we are just one of many others in the nation. Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa and Colorado are just a few of the states that have expos.
Last year at the OYE, Cheyenne Methvin of Hugo FFA had a swine make the sale, which is a very hard thing to do at a show of this magnitude.
There is more than just animals being shown at the OYE. There are also calf roping contests and calf fitting contests. A calf fitting contest is when two or more people groom a show calf before a show. There are booths that sell show supplies and clothing. There are also companies that produce show equipment that market their equipment there.
If you ever get a chance to go to the OYE held in Oklahoma City during spring break, you should definitely go because it is an unforgettable experience. |
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Hugo High School Ag Report |
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Written by Administrator
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Thursday, 03 September 2009 00:00 |
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By Weston Bates
Hugo High School
Student Reporter HUGO — Fast-action, ground-pounding, heart-stopping fun.
Rodeo fans get ready for Hugo High School’s version of the PRCA Rodeo. The Hugo FFA is holding its annual rodeo Aug. 27-29 at the Hugo Rodeo Arena.
If you like the beating and banging of professional rodeos, you will definitely enjoy watching some of these future rodeo stars. A few entries for agriculture students will include bull riding, bronc riding, steer wrestling and many other exciting rodeo events.
Caramel apples, craft booths and the smell of saw dust on the floor remind us why we love the county fair. Another exciting event coming up is the Choctaw County Fair, which will be Sept. 9-12. Beef, goats, lamb, baking and photography are a few of the events currently accepting entries. Students and citizens can enter into the fair.
The Hugo High School agriculture students are really excited about showing off their hard work this school year. Please come out and support us as we display our talents against the competition. |
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 17 September 2009 18:53 )
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