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Showing livestock teaches life lessonsAs I go to meetings across Iowa, I often hear Extension staff refer to the damage the "show" industry has on the entire livestock industry: club calves vs. cattle, club lambs vs. sheep, club pigs vs. pork and club goats vs. goats. This is frustrating to me, because I know first hand the benefits of showing livestock. Instead of talking about what they think the bad parts of the industry are, maybe they should talk about what good the industry does for our youth. Involvement in these organizations allows kids to learn wonderful life skills that will help them throughout their entire life such as work ethic, honesty, integrity, and the power of the life cycle. It appears that what frustrates many about the show ring is the competition between youth. Part of life is winning and losing and these youth organizations allow for participation at all levels and learning at all levels and winning or losing at all levels. I grew up showing cattle and was very fortunate to be successful with mostly home-raised animals. I am proud of that fact and hope that my kids will be as fortunate. However, it was the life lessons I learned from these projects, not the winning or losing that taught me the most. Having a cattle, sheep, pig or goat project takes a lot of hard work--blood, sweat and tears as they say--to be successful in the show ring. Success in one area of your life moves to all phases of your life and if you don't win this year then try, try again; set your goals high and work to achieve them. Home run king Babe Ruth, had 714 home runs, but he also struck out 1,330 times. If he had quit after striking out, he wouldn't be the legend we know him as. All things aren't equal. Trying to make everything a level playing field all the time may not give our children the life lessons they need. It seems like there's always a new rule or a new requirement that must be followed. I'm not saying rules are bad, but it can get out of hand. Rules to make everything fair just don't work and don't benefit the kids. I'm glad I will be able to raise my kids in an agriculture setting and I plan to give them the same opportunities I was given. I remember the 4-H motto: To make the best, better. And the FFA motto: Learning to do; Doing to learn; Earning to live; Living to serve. Maybe it would be a good idea to print and recite these mottos more often so everyone can use them in their every day lives. Through agriculture people learn work ethic, honesty, integrity, the power of the life cycle and how to provide food, fiber and fuel for the world. And, yes, even the show industry can teach that. Jennifer Bremer can be reached by phone at 515-833-2120 or by e-mail at jbremermaj@hotmail.com. 4/7/08 Date: 4/2/08 Advertisement
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