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PHOTO BY LAURIE ANDERSON
Wimberley 4-H members Sloane and Heidi hang out during the rabbit show.
PHOTO BY LAURIE ANDERSON
Blair Morris checks in on Bristol Blankenship’s rabbits.
PHOTO BY LAURIE ANDERSON
Forrest Conley shows off his 9th place ribbon and Abram Conley his 3rd place ribbon for the market rabbits show. Both are with Wimberley 4-H.
PHOTO BY LAURIE ANDERSON
Trace Hunt and Barrett Hunt walk their goats before check-in.
PHOTO BY LAURIE ANDERSON
Lila Graham of Dripping Springs helps her friend Meagan Hernandez of Buda as she washes her goat.
PHOTO BY LAURIE ANDERSON
Lily Naumann of Buda gets her sheep ready for competition.
Hays County has changed a lot since the first-ever county stock show that took Jan. 25, 1946.
But the 80th Hays County Livestock Show has continued to be an annual tradition in the county, uniting the communities of Buda, Dripping Springs, Kyle, San Marcos and Wimberley for one week through the world of agriculture.
“As time has progressed, our demographics have changed, and our rural life is getting less and less,” Hays County Livestock Show Board President Terry Polk said. “There’s more urban subdivisions, but the one thing about our agriculture is everybody still has to eat. By us continuing doing what we do, and I don’t mean just the stock show, but with 4-H and FFA, kids learn where their food comes from, and they actually get to raise it.
“Even the kids that live in the subdivisions, our high schools have some Ag farms where they’re able to raise animals, be a part of the work and responsibility, knowing that they have to get up in the morning and take care of a living creature then go on about their business. So it creates good work ethic, good kids, and just good morals.”
The 80th Hays County Livestock Show will take place this week with thousands of students showcasing their agriculture projects.
Being a part of the long-running show as the board president, Polk is proud to help continue the tradition of the Hays County Livestock Show for the current generation.
“It’s an honor and a privilege,” Polk said. “I love working for the kids, with the kids and providing a good, solid show that they can come enjoy and compete. Our show’s probably one of the most competitive shows around as far as the county. Most of our kids show at the county, then they go to the majors, and most of them place at the majors and do well. So our auction income for the kids is good. We’ve been able to build that up over the last 15, 20 years. It’s a proud moment for me to serve the kids.”
The show serves its purpose for many people living in Hays County in various ways. For many, this will be the only stock show participants will show in. But for others, it kicks off the start of the circuit that includes the famous Fort Worth Livestock Show, Houston Livestock Show and the San Antonio Livestock Show.
“This kicks off the season for our kids that the county gives them,” Polk said. “It’s a stepping stone from here where the kids will go to Fort Worth then to San Antonio, San Angelo, Houston, and on into Austin. … Not all our kids do that. Some end their projects at the county and that’s great.
“For our kids that are truly into [stock show], they have a good spring season and in the fall, they’ll be buying animals in February and March for next year while they still have their animals that they’re showing. So it’s a full year round commitment on these kids and their families but it’s a good way of life. It’s an honest, clean way of life.”
With a variety of people competing at the Hays County Livestock Show, the competition for having the best agriculture project is highly competitive yet friendly at the same time.
“It’s pretty neat because it makes everybody step their game up,” Polk said. “It’s competitive as it is [but] there’s still a lot of camaraderie. The kids help each other, parents are helping and even though you’re competing that day of the show, they are still back in the stalls, helping clip, helping whatever they can do. So it’s kind of a big family orientated deal all across the county. “It’s almost like a reunion of the county. People get to come and spend two or three days with everybody across the county. It’s really a great thing for our youth in Hays County.”
As the stock show continues to grow and evolve with an ever changing world, the goal of the board remains the same, providing a forever home for kids of Hays County to be involved with agriculture.
“It shows that the people that are in have been in on our board and past board members have steadily grown it,” Polk said. “We’ve had to change things with the times, but we’ve grown. From an older facility to getting into this facility with the city of Dripping Springs in 2019, we as the show board added 75,000 square feet to this facility for our kids to have a forever home in Hays County to show and have events for our kids.”
“So I hope it still keeps growing and we’ll still have people interested. Our entry numbers are about to steady. Things may drop up and down as far as the economy and projects, but as far as I can tell, we’re still growing.”
The Hays County Livestock Show show will conclude Saturday with the auction. For more information on the complete schedule, visit hayscountylivestockshow.org.
