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ENLARGE
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With tears in her eyes, Alyssa DePorter, 12, of Eaton hugs her father, Travis DePorter, after winning Grand Champion in the market goat show on Thursday at the Weld County Fair in the Island Grove Events Center in Greeley. DePorter won Grand Champion Market Pig last year.
Cattle for Kids
Cattle for Kids will celebrate its 10th anniversary today during the breeding beef show of the 2010 Weld County Fair.
The program was started by a group of concerned cattle breeders and ranchers who saw the breeding show go into demise and decided to start Cattle for Kids through sponsorships that would reward youngsters for bringing breeding animals to the fair.
Roy Wardell of Platteville was one of the ranchers involved, and he said Thursday that the breeding show has grown from a couple of dozen entries 10 years ago to 88 this year.
That is the result of a program that has grown to a point where three $1,200 drawings will be conducted that kids can use to purchase a registered heifer from Weld breeders. They must then bring that heifer back to show at the next fair.
Also, prize money upwards of $4,500 will also be awarded at this year's show for class champions and champions and reserve champions of several divisions. Kids entering a cow/calf pair at the show will get $100, and $800 was awarded in that area at last year's fair, Wardell said.
Sponsorship has grown over the years to nearly 50, which include individuals, businesses, cattle operations and agri-businesses. Donors are required to give $100 to be on the donor list, Wardell said.
This year's breeding beef show will start after the market beet show, which starts at 8 a.m.
Wardell said he and the other organizers recognize the success behind the program.
“We've had such loyalty by the people — the donors — who have stuck with us. This program has done a lot of good for 4-H and FFA kids from all over the county,” he said.
The program was started by a group of concerned cattle breeders and ranchers who saw the breeding show go into demise and decided to start Cattle for Kids through sponsorships that would reward youngsters for bringing breeding animals to the fair.
Roy Wardell of Platteville was one of the ranchers involved, and he said Thursday that the breeding show has grown from a couple of dozen entries 10 years ago to 88 this year.
That is the result of a program that has grown to a point where three $1,200 drawings will be conducted that kids can use to purchase a registered heifer from Weld breeders. They must then bring that heifer back to show at the next fair.
Also, prize money upwards of $4,500 will also be awarded at this year's show for class champions and champions and reserve champions of several divisions. Kids entering a cow/calf pair at the show will get $100, and $800 was awarded in that area at last year's fair, Wardell said.
Sponsorship has grown over the years to nearly 50, which include individuals, businesses, cattle operations and agri-businesses. Donors are required to give $100 to be on the donor list, Wardell said.
This year's breeding beef show will start after the market beet show, which starts at 8 a.m.
Wardell said he and the other organizers recognize the success behind the program.
“We've had such loyalty by the people — the donors — who have stuck with us. This program has done a lot of good for 4-H and FFA kids from all over the county,” he said.
lyssa DePorter has her sights set pretty high.
But she took the second step to her goal Thursday at the Weld County Fair when Jinx, her 93-pound goat, was chosen as overall grand champion of the market goat show by Preston Faris, who came to Greeley from Texas to evaluate this year's 254 entries.
Alyssa is 12, but Jinx was her second grand championship at a Weld fair. Last year, she had the grand champion at the market swine show.
“We want to win every species before she'd done,” Travis DePorter said of his daughter, who is a member of the Wyatt 4-H Club in Ault. Jinx was one of two goats he had traveled 1,100 miles to buy earlier this year in Gatesville, Texas, from Mike Harbour, a market goat breeder. The other goat, Alyssa said, will go to the Colorado State Fair in Pueblo later this year.
The overall reserve championship went to 8-year-old Alaina Endreson of Briggsdale, who is in her first year as a member of the Crow Creek 4-H Club. She was proud of the two medals and four ribbons she's won at the fair and was quick to point out she was also the reserve champion in gardening.
She said she bought her goat from a friend and that it weighed 95 pounds.
“I didn't think I would do this good, though,” she said, holding tight to a trophy that was almost as big as she is.
Faris, a retired extension agent from Sonora, Texas, said he started judging goat shows in 1971 and came to Greeley after judging the show at the Ohio State Fair last week. It was, he said, the third time he's judged the Weld show, and he's enjoyed the experience. He's judged all across the U.S. as well as in Canada and Australia.
“Today was a great show with some quality goats. All the division champions and reserve champions were quality animals and there were a lot of good classes out there,” he said of the process that started at 8 a.m. and didn't end until mid-afternoon.
Today, the grand champion market beef and market lamb will be chosen and Saturday, the market swine show will start at 8 a.m. in the Exhibition Building at Island Grove Regional Park. The top animals in those divisions, along with some chickens, turkeys and rabbits, will go on auction starting at 3 p.m. Monday in the Event Center.
While Faris said he always enjoys evaluating quality animals, Weld also had something more special.
“I was impressed with the quality of the kids who brought goats to the show. They were clean-cut and courteous, and for an old geezer like me, that's important. You also had people out there who know how to run a show like this and that's the reason we moved through them as fast as we did,” Faris said.
But she took the second step to her goal Thursday at the Weld County Fair when Jinx, her 93-pound goat, was chosen as overall grand champion of the market goat show by Preston Faris, who came to Greeley from Texas to evaluate this year's 254 entries.
Alyssa is 12, but Jinx was her second grand championship at a Weld fair. Last year, she had the grand champion at the market swine show.
“We want to win every species before she'd done,” Travis DePorter said of his daughter, who is a member of the Wyatt 4-H Club in Ault. Jinx was one of two goats he had traveled 1,100 miles to buy earlier this year in Gatesville, Texas, from Mike Harbour, a market goat breeder. The other goat, Alyssa said, will go to the Colorado State Fair in Pueblo later this year.
The overall reserve championship went to 8-year-old Alaina Endreson of Briggsdale, who is in her first year as a member of the Crow Creek 4-H Club. She was proud of the two medals and four ribbons she's won at the fair and was quick to point out she was also the reserve champion in gardening.
She said she bought her goat from a friend and that it weighed 95 pounds.
“I didn't think I would do this good, though,” she said, holding tight to a trophy that was almost as big as she is.
Faris, a retired extension agent from Sonora, Texas, said he started judging goat shows in 1971 and came to Greeley after judging the show at the Ohio State Fair last week. It was, he said, the third time he's judged the Weld show, and he's enjoyed the experience. He's judged all across the U.S. as well as in Canada and Australia.
“Today was a great show with some quality goats. All the division champions and reserve champions were quality animals and there were a lot of good classes out there,” he said of the process that started at 8 a.m. and didn't end until mid-afternoon.
Today, the grand champion market beef and market lamb will be chosen and Saturday, the market swine show will start at 8 a.m. in the Exhibition Building at Island Grove Regional Park. The top animals in those divisions, along with some chickens, turkeys and rabbits, will go on auction starting at 3 p.m. Monday in the Event Center.
While Faris said he always enjoys evaluating quality animals, Weld also had something more special.
“I was impressed with the quality of the kids who brought goats to the show. They were clean-cut and courteous, and for an old geezer like me, that's important. You also had people out there who know how to run a show like this and that's the reason we moved through them as fast as we did,” Faris said.
