FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, June 6, 2011
For more information contact:
Bill Clary
(502) 564-1137

 

Kentucky Department of Agriculture will launch 2011 junior livestock expos June 13 in Morehead

FRANKFORT, Ky. — The 2011 Kentucky Junior Livestock Expos will draw hundreds of young livestock exhibitors to three locations across the Commonwealth to sharpen their skills and test their mettle against their peers.

“Showing livestock is a positive, constructive activity for our youth,” Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer said. “It teaches valuable life lessons about responsibility, discipline and hard work. I’m pleased that the Kentucky Department of Agriculture is able to continue offering the junior livestock expos.”

The series opens with the Kentucky Junior Livestock Expo – East June 13-14 in Morehead. The Kentucky Junior Livestock Expo – Western Rivers will be June 30-July 1 in Murray. The oldest and largest of the expos, the Kentucky Junior Livestock Expo – West, is scheduled for July 21-23 in Bowling Green.

The shows are open to regularly enrolled Kentucky 4-H and FFA members engaged in an approved livestock project. Exhibitors will compete in beef, dairy, swine, sheep, and goats. The two overall champion showmen of each species will compete in the Round Robin, in which they will be required to show all species, for the honor of supreme overall showman. Premiums will be awarded for the top entries in each species, and additional premiums will be awarded for Kentucky animals enrolled in the Kentucky Proud Livestock Tag Program, which is in its second year.

“The livestock tag program has been tremendously popular,” Commissioner Farmer said. “It provides incentives for exhibitors to show Kentucky-bred animals while enabling producers to sell livestock for show at above-market prices. I encourage every Kentucky exhibitor to join the Kentucky Proud Livestock Tag Program.”

Along with livestock shows, the expos will offer livestock and dairy judging contests, clinics, oral reasons, and skill-a-thons.

For more information, including show rules and schedules for each expo, go to the Division of Show and Fair Promotion page on the Department's website, www.kyagr.com.