Breckenridge Texan

By Carla McKeown/Breckenridge Texan

For 65 years, the youth of Stephens County have been coming together to exhibit their agriculture animal projects in the local livestock show. The 2023 Stephens County Junior Livestock Show and Sale included more than 120 kids participating in the annual event from Thursday, Jan. 5, through Saturday, Jan. 7, at the Stephens County Agriculture/Expo Center.

The show started Thursday evening with the weigh-ins and Rabbit Division and wrapped up with the presentation of the awards and belt buckles, on Saturday. After the show, the sale portion of the event took place.

One of the highlights of the show for the past nine years has been Jacob Jackson Master Showman Award, which focuses on the exhibitor’s skills in showing their ag animals. See the section below for more information about the award.

This year’s SCJLS included 69 classes, as well as the Ag Mechanics and Floral Design contests. Additionally, this year’s show featured two new contests. This was the first year for Pasture Plant Identification and second year for Livestock Judging. The results from those contests are listed below.

Addalyn  Jackson hands the Jacob Jackson Master Showman Award to Joni Jackson during the Stephens County Junior Livestock Show on Saturday morning, Jan. 7. Addalyn is the daughter of the late Jacob Jackson for whom the award his named. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

JACOB JACKSON MASTER SHOWMAN AWARD

Joni Jackson, who was the Sheep Division Senior Showman, won the Jacob Jackson Master Showman Award. The competition includes the senior showmanship winners from the SCJLS divisions of rabbit, sheep, goat, swine and cattle.

At the end of each division’s competition, the exhibitors may participate in the showmanship contest. The winners from each division then compete for the master showman award. In the contest, each exhibitor must show a rabbit, sheep, goat, swine and steer/heifer, regardless of which category they originally won in. The contestants often borrow the other animals from their friends and fellow exhibitors and seek out advice on showing the animals they are not accustomed to showing. The winner receives a framed belt buckle and $1,000.

Competing for the 2023 Jacob Jackson Master Showman Award were:

• Joni Jackson — Sheep Division Senior Showmanship winner
• Hannah Moreno — Rabbit Division Senior Showmanship winner
• MacKenzie Cloud — Goat Division Senior Showmanship winner
• Kason Burchett — Swine Division Senior Showmanship winner
• Providence Ezell — Cattle Division Senior Showmanship winner

Participants may only win the award one time. This year, Addison Duncan was named the Senior Swine Showman, but since she won the Jacob Jackson Master Showman Award in 2021, she was not eligible to compete in the final competition on Saturday. So, Kason Burchett was named as the Reserve Senior Sheep Showman and competed for the award.

Matt Colbert of Lubbock judged the showman competitions for the individual divisions, as well as the final contest for the Master Showman Award. He is originally from Breckenridge, graduating from Breckenridge High School in 1989, and competed in the livestock show when he was a student. His dad, Mike Colbert, was the announcer at the livestock show for many years.

The award is named after the late Jacob Jackson, who died in 2014 at the age of 33. The award was first given out in 2015 and is presented each year by Tye Jackson and Addalyn Jackson, Jacob’s brother and young daughter. Previous winners include: Emma Davis (2015), Kyler Knight (2016), Halle Harvick (2017), Marvin Phillips (2018), Kason Knight (2019), McKenly Roberts (2020), Addison Duncan (2021), and Rylan Sims (2022).

SCJLS DIVISIONS and Photo Galleries

The 2021 Stephens County Junior Livestock Show featured six divisions. For the list of winners in each division, click on the following links:

SCJLS 2023: Top honors in Rabbit Division go to Hinson, Moreno, Gill and Perkins

SCJLS 2023: Chloe Pugh, Violet Fitch earn top awards in Poultry Division

SCJLS 2023: Jackson, Nowak and Blackman garner top awards in Sheep Division

SCJLS 2023: Top honors in Goat Division go to Addison Duncan and MacKenzie Cloud

SCJLS 2023: Addison Duncan takes home top three Swine Division awards

SCJLS 2023: Providence Ezell, Kadynce Kennedy earn top awards in Cattle Division

Photo Gallery from Thursday, Jan. 5

Photo Gallery from Friday, Jan. 6

Photo Gallery from Saturday, Jan. 7

Madison Yarger’s smoker was the Grand Champion Overall winner in the Ag Mechanics contest. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

FLORAL DESIGN AND AG MECHANICS

In addition to the six animal divisions, the annual Stephens County Junior Livestock Show includes two additional competitions – the Floral Design Contest and the Agriculture Mechanics Contest. Both of those highlight other skills the students have.

Cara Schkade puts together her entry in the Floral Design Contest on Saturday morning. She won first place for the arrangement. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

In the Floral Design Contest, five participants competed in an on-site design project.

On Saturday morning, the students were provided with flowers, greenery, containers and tools with which to design a centerpiece that would be appropriate for a baby shower, specifically a baby shower for a mom who is going to have twins – a boy and a girl.

Competing in the contest were Rachel Burchett, Morgan Duncan, Aalyiah Salazar, Cara Schkade, and ShyAnn Wickson. The entries were judged by Shayla Speck.

The Floral Design contest results were:

• Grand Champion: Cara Schkade
• Reserve Champion: Aalyiah Salazar

The Ag Mechanics projects are divided into two categories – Farm Project and Recreation Project. They are judged on such categories as workmanship, design and materials, degree of difficulty, student’s knowledge of the project and more. The projects were judged by Chris Beard, who also judged the poultry division.

The results of the Ag Mechanics contest were:

• Grand Champion Overall – Madison Yarger – Smoker
• Reserve Champion Overall – Jack McKay – Shop Table
• Grand Champion-Farm & Ranch Project — Jack McKay – Shop Table
• Reserve – Farm & Ranch Project – Miley Roberts – Saddle Rack
• Grand Champion-Recreation – Madison Yarger – Smoker
• Reserve Champion-Recreation — Parks Gill – Bar Top Table & Chairs

THE George blackburn memorial HERDSMAN AWARDs

The Herdsman Awards is named after the late George Blackburn, a former Stephens County Extension Agent.

To be a herdsman applicant, the stock show exhibitors had to sign up to participate and then write an essay, complete their record book and be interviewed by a committee. The winners received belt buckles.

The winners of the 2020 George Blackburn Memorial Herdsman Awards are:

• Senior Poultry Herdsman – Josiah Moreno
• Senior Rabbit Herdsman – Collom Perkins
• Senior Sheep Herdsman – Joni Jackson
• Senior Goat Herdsman – Madison Yarger
• Senior Swine Herdsman – Kason Burchett
• Senior Cattle Herdsman – Providence Ezell
• Junior Poultry Herdsman – Javien Rodriguez
• Junior Rabbit Herdsman – Natalee Cooper
• Junior Sheep Herdsman – Tristan Diaz
• Junior Goat Herdsman – Sylee Mitchell
• Junior Swine Herdsman – Rachel Burchett
• Junior Cattle Herdsman – Siler Morehart

Livestock Judging

This year, all exhibitors had the opportunity to enter the Livestock Judging contest in which the students judged livestock.

There were 30 participants, and the top 10 were:

1. Kadynce Kennedy – Champion Buckle Winner
2. Kason Burchett
3. Sawyer Langhorn
4. Cabel Perkins
5. Providence Ezell
6. Krawford Kennedy
7. Audra Wimberly
8. Trinity Blackman
9. Kole Wright
10. Joni Jackson

Pasture Plant Identification Contest

This was the first year for the SCJLS to feature a Pasture Plant Identification Contest. There were 16 participants, and the top 5 were:

1. Hannah Moreno – Champion Buckle Winner
2. Josiah Moreno – Reserve Buckle Winner
3. Isaac Tait
4. Kason Burchett
5. Chloe Tait

All of the winners in the 2023 Stephens County Junior Livestock Show line up in the arena of the Ag Center/Expo for the awards ceremony on Saturday. Each winner received a belt buckle. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

Cutline, top photo: Hunter Davis, Sebastian Nieves and Kasen Ferguson show pigs in the 65th annual Stephens County Junior Livestock Show on Friday, Jan. 6. The show started on Thursday evening and wrapped up on Saturday afternoon. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

Click here to see the Breckenridge Texan’s Photo Gallery from Saturday at the SCJLS. The Breckenridge Texan will have more photos from Rachelle Perry, the SCJLS official photographer, at a later date.