Bio-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 30, 1995 LOU ANN GOOD Lancaster Fanning Staff MANHEIM (Lancaster Co.) Hundreds of kids are showing livestock at the Pennsylvania Farm Show from Jan. 6-11. While the youth shows are considered a time for kids to show off their projects, don’t let that fool you. “Showing is not a kid’s project but a family project. Kids can’t do it on their own,” said 15-year-old Travis Donough. He credits his parents, Ed and Laßue, themselves former Farm Show youth exhibitors, for being supportive and motivating in help ing him, his 12-year-old brother Ryan, and his 8-year-old sister Joelynn, with achieving great suc cess in the show ring. The Donoughs will haul S sheep, 2 pigs, and two steers to compete in swine, sheep, and steer classes at the Farm Show. The Donough siblings compete in seven different shows through out the year. Farm Show competi- is and Ryan consider it easier to show ravi From left, Ryan, Travis, and dad Ed round up Tombstone and Milky Way for Farm Show competition. jfcds Cornel; Siblin Showing Is Family Affair For Donoughs tion, they say. is the toughest and getting tougher. “Kids are spending more money to purchase better animals,” Ed said. But purchasing animals doesn’t always mean its a better one than a homebred one. “I don’t care how much money you spend to buy an animal. If you don’t take care of it, it won’t do you any good,” Ed said. This year the Donoughs pur chased two steers from lowa. “We are not at all pleased with them,” Travis said. “Crazy” and "jumpy” are the words the Donoughs use to describe the steers. “They just aren’t personable.” Despite the Donoughs persis tence in leading the steers around the pasture, they still leave a lot to be desired although they are belter behaved then before. The Donoughs think the nervous trait is genetic and no amount of working with the animals will change it. is Take Shee , Steers, Pi The recent snow storms pose another problem in preparing the animals for showing. It is impossi ble to lead the animals on the hilly slopes around the bam because of the ice. Nevertheless, the Donoughs spend a lot of time in the small bam where the sheep, steers, and pigs are housed. Sheep are the Donoughs’ forte. They have been raising Hamp shires, Suffolks, and Crossbreds for years and have won numerous trophies and ribbons in county competition. Each year they choose sheep from their homebred flock to take to Farm Show competition. They purchase pigs from diffe rent breeders. This year, they pur chased Hamp-crosses from Mary land to raise for competition. Although the brothers believe it is easier to show pigs, they enjoy the challenge of showing sheep. And, Travis does especially well in showmanship competitions. Things at the Farm Show aren’t exactly calm in-between competi tions for the Donoughs. “Usually, you have at least one sheep that isn’t satisfied with its own pen. It’ll jump into another pen or take off to explore the world,” Ryan said. One time, Ryan’s soda was acci dently bumped off the show box, ant the sheep rapidly lapped up the spilled drink. Now Ryan occasion ally gives his sheep a few swallows just because they love it so much. The siblings will miss three to four days of school to compete at the Farm Show. This is no problem because all three are A and B stu dents and have no difficulty mak ing up the missed assignments. Travis is in 10th grade and an FFA student at Manheim Central High School. Ryan is in sixth grade at H.C. Burgard Elementary School, and Joelynn is in second grade at Sporting Hill Elementary. She is showing a sheep in the open class at the Farm Show this year. Next is To State Farm Show Showing Is a family affair for Ed and children Joelynn, Travis, and Ryan. Although she is not pictured, Laßue wholeheartedly helps with the kids’ projects. The parents know first-hand the Importance of parents helping their children achieve success since both of them were previous youth exhibitors at the Farm Show.. In fact, Ed, who was from Manheim, and Laßue, who was from Nazareth, met each other at the Farm Show, and from that Introduction, love blossomed. year she looks forward to compel- At the Farm Show, the ing in the youth classes. Donoughs believe the top trophies Unlike some exhibitors, the are rather evasive because of the Donoughs return home every stiff competition, night. Travis said that he already “We’re just hoping to make the has problems with allergies and sale,” Travis said. asthma so the Farm Show dust For their projects to be eligible aggravates his problems 0 «nany trophies in local fairs. The Dbnoughs will take Cupid, Thunder, Amanda, Dakota, and Oscar to Farm Show competition. (Turn to Pag* B 14)
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