Livestock show draws young people

63rd annual Central Piedmont Junior Livestock Show & Sale draws about 140 young people

HILLSBOROUGH -- His hair was shiny black, his rump well formed, his body symmetrical. His handler, Branden Roper, said little after winning the Grand Championship ribbon Thursday with his 960-pound feeder steer, Sir Krap A Lot.

Roper's parents have a barn where he has raised goats, lambs, hogs, cattle and turkeys. He also has started a club that sells lambs to young people to raise, show or sell.

"I just love animals," the Wake County teen said.

About 140 young people participated in this week's 63rd annual Central Piedmont Junior Livestock Show & Sale at the Central Carolina Holstein Association Barn on Orange Grove Road. The FFA and 4-H sponsor the show, with nine counties represented this year.

"It really has been a big part of our agricultural heritage for this region," said Karen McAdams, livestock agent for N.C. Cooperative Extension. "It's about the kids and their projects, but it's also for the agricultural community because it gives them a sense of carrying on tradition."

She said many of the people who had grown up doing these shows return to volunteer their time or help judge the categories.

"In the Piedmont area of North Carolina, most are still family farms that have been in the family for generations -- it's not like the huge farms in the Midwest," McAdams said. "We've certainly lost farms to developments, but we try hard to pass on the knowledge to the next generation."

Participants, ranging from 5 to 18 years old, must submit 4-H record books detailing how they raised their animals, including how much they spent on feed as well as other costs.

Parents and 4-H leaders don't expect all the children to become farmers.

Kathy and Todd White, whose 9-year-old son Matthew showed his beef heifer Thursday, grew up on farms. They raise poultry and beef cows in Chatham County.

"They should know where food comes from; it's not just from off a grocery store shelf," Kathy White said. "This is where everything started; everyone used to farm. Now, there are fewer and fewer farmers."

Johnny Rogers, the judge for the steer and heifers, said raising livestock is hard work.

"When you've got a project, that animal needs you every day," he said. "It teaches you commitment to the project."

"The responsibility is what the young people get out of it the most," he added. "If we take good care of animals, maybe we'll be kinder to each other and take care of each other."

Roper, 17, participates in about 15 shows a year. This was his second year in a row as the grand champion for his feeder steer at this particular show. He plans to take Sir Krap A Lot to the Junior Beef Roundup show in Raleigh soon and to the State Fair this fall.

Next year will be his last chance to enter the Central Piedmont Junior Livestock Show & Sale since he'll be 18. But that doesn't faze him. The State Fair allows participants as old as 21 in the youth category, he says.