The days have grown long and nights short, which means we are right in the middle of summer time.

Summer can be a youth’s most favorite time of the year. They get to stay up later than normal and sleep in on other days besides Saturday. While summer break is coming to an end, many youth already have the parish fair and state fair on their minds.

Many of these youth are also part of the Webster Parish 4-H Livestock Club. Being part of the livestock club and raising 4-H animals brings other life lessons to mind.

One of the best lessons a student can learn is responsibility. The students are given the chance to watch this animal grow as they feed, water, and care for it with the hopes of winning top prize at the contest. Many students look at this as a way to prove that they understand what it takes to produce a top notch show animal. It is the responsibilities they learn from raising this animal that later in life show up as they enter the job force or college life.

Another wonderful lesson learned is where our food comes from and just how much it takes to raise an animal for us to eat.

Many students today have no clue where their food comes from or even what the animals eat in order to grow and be healthy. Students who show livestock understand that once they show the animal, many times that animal is consumed by them or sold to be processed.  

Some animals are not ever sold, such as some poultry and dairy cattle, yet the students do get to see the animal raised and understand where the milk comes from and just how the chicken looked before it was a chicken strip.
The lesson that is the hardest to learn and to accept is sportsmanship. No one likes to lose and with livestock it sometimes depends on what the judge prefers.

Many great judges, when giving their reasons for choosing an animal, will tell the students just what they need to change or try to change about their animal or presentation style. Students learn that just because one year they place fourth in the class at the parish fair they may place second in the class at state due to class breakdown. Yet with all the competition in the ring, they always talk after the show.

Lastly, the BEST lesson is the one that not only involves the students but involves the family as a whole. One small pig can bring the family together and will have them working, laughing, and even crying together; family time takes on a whole new meaning. Youth need family time and family values to grow and become healthy leaders of tomorrow.

The Webster Parish Fair for 2010 will be held September 28 through October 2. While many of the possession dates for animals have passed, students can still get in on the action by showing a pig. Possession dates for swine at the parish and state fair is August 10.

For more information on fair dates and producers to purchase show pigs, contact Assistant Extension Agent Calvin Walker at 318-371-1371, or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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