Junior Livestock Shows, Sales The Youth, Adults, General Public
(Continued from Pago A 27)
animals. We must base these prog
rams on a foundation of ethics and
honesty, and continue to give our
youth of today and tomorrow the
same opportunities to develop a
strong moral basis for their future.
Public Perceptions of Animal
Products: We are fortunate that
neither the isolated abuse of ani
mals nor the infrequent illegal use
of compounds has affected which
animal products the public will
purchase. Newspapers, maga
zines, and other media have, sur
prisingly, not attempted to associ
ate these rare abuses with the
animal-derived products that most
of the public uses everyday. Since
the abuses observed in junior
shows are perpetrated by a few
individuals and are not representa
tive of the vast majority of youth
project or commercially produced
animal-derived products, this
association should not be made.
However, with the tendency for
the media to report sensational
and controversial information, and
often misinformation, the animal
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Being a good animal exhibitor:
Junior exhibitors need to be aware
that they have a long-standing
tradition to follow in terms of inte
grity, guarantees and ethis in pre
senting animals for show or sale.
Livestock purchase or sale agree
ments are often made through just
verbal agreement “sealed with a
handshake.” Although not the best
basis to a business transaction, it
shows the integrity that is
expected and exists throughout
agriculture. Integrity and ethics
are expected when we make
purchases and customers have the
righ to expect the same. In animals
used for breeding, the birth dates,
breeding soundness guarantees,
performance or production histo
ries. and other traits that reflect an
animal's value are expected to be
honestly stated by the seller. Any
known imperfections that are not
apparent to the observed or to the
purchaser should also be stated.
This kind of traditional farming
ethic must be instilled in youth
involved with junior livestock
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activities, and also in those who
advise, teach, and supervise
youth. This includes parents, club
leaders and those who sell project
animals to youth.
Simple economics qf proper
animal care and treatment: Practi
cally all of the guidelines for care,
handling, nutrition, and facilities
that lead to proper animal care and
use have been shown to improve
the economics of production. Dis
tress to the animal can decrease
rate of gain, feed efficiency and
even result in a lower-quality car
cass. One of the most important
aspects of the educational phase of
junior animal projects is to teach
proper animal care and manage
ment and respect for animals
including the use of practices that
result in high-quality carcasses
and consumer products without
bruises, off-color lean, blemishes
from injection sites, or chemical
residues. If residues are detected
through random sampling by the
Food Safety and Inspection Ser
vice, the carcass is condemned
with the total loss of the carcass
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value. A more important consider
ation is the use of drugs which are
illegal for use in any food
producing animal. These types of
non-ethical. careless, and selfish
actions permanently damange the
credibility of the livestock produc
er and the industry's reputation for
proper animal care and production
of safe/wholesome animal
derived products. These actions
are totally unacceptable in youth
livestock programs as well.
Fitting and showing guides:
There are many guides available
for fitting and showing of
livestock—from rabbits to sheep
to beef cattle to horses. Naturally,
the knowledge and skills asso
ciated with the presentation of ani
mals to the judge, the public, and
to prospective buyers is important
and must continue to be empha
sized. This is an important part of
good animal care, handling,
responsibility, and sales/
showmanship. However, adher
ence to ethical production and
marketing practices must be given
more attention. The following
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practices are not to be condoned in
any situation:
•Feeding or use of illegal
compunds
•Feeding or use of extra-label
compounds without a prior exami
nation of die animal and a written
prescription by a veterinarian
•Not providing acceptable
levels of feed, water, bedding and
housing to animals at all times,
including the time just prior to
shows and sales
•Abuse, misuse or inhumane
manipulation of animals
•Injection of any fluids or air to
change to the shape of an animal
or misrepresent its natural charac
teristics (e.g., muscling in meat
animals, dairy cow udders)
•Disregarding purchase and/or
possession dates required for
junior livestock projects or indivi
dual show animals
■Use of professional fitter
where prohibited
•Overlooking educational and
skill development or placing too
much emphasis on awards (either
money or troohies and ribbons)
•Unsportsmanlike
conduct or abusive
behavior while exhibit
ing animals
•Adult leader not
scheduling periodic
farm visits throughout
the project season to
observe and advise on
the nutrition and care of
project animals.
Educationa and train
ing materials: A wide
variety of different edu
cational, training, and
skill development
materials are available
to junior livestock club
members, parents, advi
sors, county extension
agents, and club lead
ers. Historically these
materials have dealth
mostly with fitting and
showing skills to a less
er extent with proper
nutrition and handling.
Within the past two
years, because of the
discovery of unethical
feeding, fitting, and
showing practices by
youth and adults
involved in club work, a
number of visual aids
I and written materials
about the ethics of
Junior livestock activi
ties have been deve
loped. Several states
require juniors to com
plete educational mater
ials pertaining to ethics
as an initial step in their
program.
The skills involved in
selecting, caring for, fit
ting and showing ani
mals are a necessary
I part of the educational
I process. But everything
possible must be done
to concentrate on all
goals of junior livestock
programs. This includes
teaching the husbandry
subject matter, the busi
ness aspects of animal
production, ethical val
ues, and professional
ism. So many people
have gained important
life skills and benefited
so much from junior
programs based on ani
mals that we can ill
afford a weakening or
discontinuation of these
opportunities.