Agricultural News
Houston Livestock Show CEO Joel Cowley Reflects on His Experience Judging Tulsa's Steer Show
Fri, 06 Oct 2017 11:18:25 CDT
The Tulsa State Fair welcomed one of the premier steer judges in the country, Joel Cowley, to judge the nine divisions of the fair's market steer show this year. Cowley is known for having extensive knowledge when it comes to picking the winners, as the renown Houston Livestock Show's chief executive officer. This week, Cowley selected a crossbred steer shown by previous Tulsa State Fair winner, Baylor Bonham, of the Newcastle FFA Chapter. After the show, Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays had the chance to pick Cowley's brain on the what he saw at the show this year - and what impressed him most.
"Well first and foremost, I saw an incredible group of exhibitors," he answered. "They're respectful. It's obvious they put in a lot of work and this is a program that they will definitely benefit from in the future. Beyond that, I saw a really good set of cattle - very, very impressed with the quality of the show."
The reason behind livestock shows as we know them today, Cowley explained, is to provide and achieve a standard of quality for which commercial cattle breeders can aspire - a sort of demonstration of a perfected market animal. Cowley insists the cattle showed this year match up very well to that ideal level of quality and functionality that the industry continuously endeavors to achieve. He says, too, that exhibitions like these are also very important in promoting agriculture. Not only do the programs involved help foster a new generation of leaders in agriculture, it also serves to connect the urban populace with agriculture and allows the industry to showcase its very best.
"The mission of all these shows, whether it's a major stock show like Houston or San Anton' or the Tulsa State Fair or the Oklahoma Youth Expo - really it's to promote agriculture," he said. "And, we need to keep that in mind because agriculture is not something we can take for granted. It's very important that we foster that interest in these young people and we make sure that the general public understands how important agriculture is."
Listen to Houston Livestock Show CEO Joel Cowley talk with Ron Hays about his experience this year judging the Tulsa State Fair Market Steer Show, on today's Beef Buzz.
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Network and is a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR below for today's show and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
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