NETLA show tops charts again in 2020

After countless hours in the barn tending the animals, the hard work of Hopkins County kids and parents alike have paid off. The Northeast Texas Livestock Association (NETLA) Junior Market Livestock Show tallied up record-breaking numbers for the fifteenth year in a row, according to official figures from the group. Overall, area businesses purchased $474,302.13 worth of livestock from local youth.

According to NETLA board president Kevin Gibson and board member Brad Johnson, sale numbers have been steadily increasing every year since 2005. This is despite the fact that the overall number of lots - or animals - for sale hasn’t changed much. Since 2005, sales from the Junior Market Livestock show have tripled, according to officials.

“Every year we think it’s going to go down, but it just keeps going up,” Gibson said. Gibson attributes successful sales to the charity of local businesses.

“It’s our amazing community,” he said. “They’re small businesses, local businesses. They’re not the big corporate sponsors… they’re the bread and butter of the show.”

“We think it’s a win-win situation for all of us,” Hopkins County Sheriff Lewis Tatum says.

With non-taxpayer dollars the jail makes from the commissary account, HCSO purchases pigs and chickens from the show to use on the trustie farm. And, says Tatum, “We’re supporting the community… and I think it’s just neat.”

A key element of the show, both Gibson and Johnson agree, is educating the youth.

“I tell everybody… we’re raising kids, we’re just using animals as a medium,” Gibson joked. “Everyone just thinks we’re raising show animals.”

Johnson believes that an important aspect of raising a show animal for the Junior Market Livestock show is the amount of time that goes into caring for and hand-raising a living creature, he said.

“And, once they learn about choring, there’s not a lot of time left for getting into trouble,” Johnson added.

“If you go out there and watch those kids, they are polite and professional,” Tatum agreed. “Their families are supporting them one-hundred percent, and that’s why we think it’s such a good program to further them in life.”

For Gibson, one of the main life lessons that comes with the livestock show is that not everyone is a winner all the time.

“There’s a lot of hardworking kids whose animals just don’t make it,” Gibson said. “They didn’t eat, they didn’t grow right, they just don’t have the right genetics. They learn not everyone gets a trophy.”

According to Gibson, only half of animals in the show make the Sale of Champions.

“You might buy a $300 or $400 pig, but if it goes on the truck you only get $100 or $150. You’re talking about a lot of blood, sweat and tears that may or may not make a sale. It’s just life lessons,” Gibson said.

To Gibson, it’s an important family legacy. He’s been involved with the Junior Market Livestock show for at least 20 years, when he opened his first bank account at age 10 to deposit the check he made at the show. He still holds the same bank account, and now his two children show for Sulphur Springs 4H. This year, his son took the prize belt buckle for most raffle ticket sales, named for Gibson’s father, Jackie Gibson. He called it, “a pretty special deal.” That’s why to Gibson, animal-rearing will always be a family affair.

“The kids can’t do this on their own. They’re responsible for the animals, but it’s the time in the barn and the relationships with the family to be able to do these projects,” he said.