Nevada livestock show begins today in Reno

The Nevada Junior Livestock Show, in partnership with University of Nevada Cooperative Extension’s Nevada 4-H Youth Development Program, FFA and Grange Youth, presents its 80th annual Nevada Junior Livestock Show today through Saturday in Reno.

Youth ages 9-19 throughout the state and parts of California will be judged on their showmanship and knowledge of their chosen animals at the Reno-Sparks Livestock Events Center. Fallon 4-H and FFA members recently participated in the Churchill County Junior Livestock Show during the last weekend of April.

“This event is a great place for the public to come interact with youth in agriculture and learn where food comes from and about the people who raise it.” said Nevada Junior Livestock President Matt McKinney. “In addition, for many youth, this is the end of their projects. Everything they’ve been doing for the past several months culminates in this show.”

The youth have spent months raising, grooming and training their market animals. In the process, they learned animal husbandry and became familiar with livestock industry practices. They also learned additional skills, such as record keeping, finances, budgeting and managing time working with their animals. Many participants also competed at county and regional shows to earn the right to participate

Participants will present what they’ve learned in showmanship competitions for steers, dairy cattle, sheep, swine, dairy goats, market goats, rabbits and turkeys with a livestock auction at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday and the awards ceremony at 9 a.m. on Sunday.

For 80 years, the Nevada Junior Livestock Show has provided an opportunity for 4-H, FFA, Grange Youth and independent youth members to exhibit their livestock projects before the public, promoting and providing the incentive for achieving excellence in livestock production, skills and practices.

The program has also encouraged sportsmanship, leadership, citizenship and responsibility in the youth participants. For information, visit the Department of Agriculture’s website, http://agri.nv.gov/Administration/NJLSB/NJLSB.