Lonoke County Fair: CHS FFA

Cabot High School’s FFA will be showing livestock and competing at the Lonoke County Fair starting the week of September 19. 

Students will show cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, poultry, and rabbits. There will be different shows throughout the week. 

“The hardest part of keeping livestock is the timing. It isn’t easy to have time for other things after school and extracurricular activities,” junior Jata Kirkpatric said.

Kirkpatric’s lamb will be featured in the fair, and this responsibility has taught her many things. She explains students have to feed the animals every morning and night, and during fair time, they are with the animals all week. 

“This has taught students hard work, time management, and animal husbandry. They learn career success, and develop a skill set to be prepared and on time. It teaches how to meet the needs and care for something else.” Mr. Ragland the FFA teacher said. 

Ragland explained that to carefully prepare the livestock for shows, students are in charge of maintenance, fresh water/food, and making sure the animals are active daily. All of this commitment pays off. 

“The whole principle of all of this is for Wednesday, where the best animal will be chosen as the grand champion,” Ragland stated. 

The most desired traits for competitions are muscle mass, cover, and freshness of the animal. Along with showing up for proper care, you also can add specific supplements into feeding to get the results you want for your animal. Once the fair is over, some of the animals return to their breeder to use on farms (usually females), and males are taken to market. 

If you are interested in gushing over the small cattle or want to show support for CHS FFA, make sure you show up to the Lonoke County Fair, September 19-24.