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4-H Youth - Livestock

Dixie National

Boy and animal at dixie nationalEvery year, for one week in early February, youth who raise livestock and participate in the 4-H & FFA livestock programs in Mississippi head to Jackson for the annual Dixie National Junior Round-Up Livestock Shows. These youth bring show entries from their junior livestock projects to compete for champions of their individual categories.

The Dixie National is the showcase for the 4-H & FFA livestock programs and livestock industry; it is also the site of the largest junior market livestock shows in Mississippi. The Champion and Reserve Champion of the Junior Steer Show, Junior Market Lamb Show, Junior Market Swine Show, Junior Market Goat Show, and Overall Champion Mississippi Bred steer, lamb, and hog are singled out for a special tribute at the Dixie National. The exhibitors purchased many of these animals last spring, and these young exhibitors with champions have worked long and hard to raise their outstanding animals.

imageFirst, boys and girls exhibit their animals at one of the five district shows within the State. If they receive a blue ribbon on their animal at the district show, they can then participate in the Dixie National. There were over 1,600 market animals at the five district shows and over 1,100 ended up at the Dixie National Junior Round-Up, from which the champions were selected. These champion animals were sold to the highest bidder at the Sale of Junior Champions auction.

2011 DIXIE NATIONAL SALE OF JUNIOR CHAMPIONS

Dixie National Sale of
Junior Champions
FACTS

Highest price paid per pound for a Market Steer: 2007, Ergon, Blue Cross/Blue Shield of MS and Governor Haley & Marsha Barbour – $17.00/lb – total price $22,916.
Highest price paid per pound for a Market Hog: 2008, Deviney Construction, Yates Construction, Entergy, AT&T and APAC - $56.00/lb - total price $15,512
Highest price paid per pound for a Market Lamb: 2008, Brookshire’s Grocery & Regions Bank – $61.00/lb – total price $9,333.
Highest price paid per pound for a Market Goat: 2010, Bozeman Ag Commodities, Herrington Services, Tom Hixon, Cindy & Ray Phillips, Doug Warren, and T.P. Weisenberger – $81.00/lb – total price $6,480.
Top sale in total dollar volume: 2007 – $279,008.50
Total of sales from 1970 to 2011: $4,509,116.15

The 42nd Sale of Junior Champions was another great event for our youth involved in the Animal and Dairy Sciences Program.  The Sale’s committee is to be commended for the hard work that they put into this sale to make it a very successful activity.  This was the 17th year in a row for the sale to gross over $100,000.  Gross total for the 43 animals sold was $257,162.50.  The 9 steers averaged $8.06/lb.; the 13 hogs averaged $23.62/lb.; the 12 lambs averaged $31.25/lb.; and the 9 goats averaged $32.44/lb.  The Grand Champion Steer was purchased by Ergon, Inc., Blue Cross/Blue Shield of MS and Governor Haley & Marsha Barbour for $13.50/lb. for a total of $17,550 and was the highest selling animal in the sale.  Trustmark National Bank and Blue Cross/Blue Shield of MS purchased the Grand Champion Hog for $30.00/lb. for a total of $8,460.  Gray-Daniels Ford, Watson Quality Ford and Harold Miller purchased the Grand Champion Lamb for $33.00/lb. for a total of $5,016.  The Grand Champion Goat was purchased by Regions Bank, Empire Truck and Stribling Equipment for $28.00/lb. for a total of $2,800.

The buyers, contributors, sale committee members, Extension staff members assisting with the sale, and other supporters who help make this a special event for our youth are to be commended.  For more news on the Sale of Junior Champions, go to http://msucares.com/news/print/fcenews/fce11/110217.html for a news article and http://msucares.com/news/farmweek/featurestories2011.html for a show done byFarmweek TV.  Thanks to everyone!

Buyers who purchased animals were Adcamp Inc., APAC of Mississippi, A&R Land Investment, AT&T, Atmos Energy, Attala Frozen Foods, BASF, B & B Cattle Co., B & E Communications, Inc., Bank of Commerce, Greenwood, Bank of Yazoo, Bank Plus, Beth M. Harris Foundation, Blue Cross/Blue Shield of MS, Boots & More, Bozeman Farms, Brock Plumbing, Cannon Nissan of Jackson, Capitol Body Shop, Cimarron Mortgage Co., Clark and Company, Cooke, Douglass, Farr & Lemons, Arch, Copeland, Cook, Taylor & Bush, PA, Crop Production Services, Deviney Construction Company, Dixie National Booster Club, EastGroup Properties, Inc., Empire Trucks, Energy Group, Entergy, Inc., Ergon, Inc., First South Farm Credit, Gaddis & McLaurin Gin, Gaddis-McLaurin, Inc., Governor Haley & Marsha Barbour, Gray-Daniels Ford, Hammett Gravel Company, Inc., Harreld Chevrolet, Havard Pest Control, Herrington Services, Hilton-Jackson, J.D. White Electric Company, Joe Usry Auto Group, Key Constructors, Leflore Veterinary Clinic, Lewis Trailer Sales, Inc., M.G. Dyess Inc., Matthews, Cutrer, & Lindsay, P.A., McDaniel Farm, Mercedes-Benz of Jackson, Merchants and Planters Bank, Meyer and Rosenbaum, Inc., Mississippi State FarmHouse, Sally and Dick Molpus Foundation, Molpus Woodland Advisors, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, Monsanto Company, MS Ag Commissioner Dr. Lester Spell, MS Ag Company, MS Fair Commission, MS Farm Bureau Insurance Co., MS Farm Bureau Federation, MS Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney, MS Land Bank, MS Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann, Newborn Associates, Oldham Chemical, Paul Anthony’s Market, Pruet Oil Co., Puckett Machinery, R&B Land Co., Regions Bank, Rick’s Pro-Truck, Sanders Seed Co., Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, Sheldon Lab Systems, Signs First, Simmons Farm Raised Catfish, Inc., Smith, Harper & Morgan Rodeo Co., Southern AgCredit, Southern Cross Underwriters, Inc., Southern Farm Bureau Casualty Insurance, Southern Farm Bureau Life Insurance, Southern Tractor, Stribling Equipment, Structural Steel, TeleSouth Communications, Tellus Operating Group, LLC, Terry Trane Services, The Tractor Store, Tico's Steakhouse, Trotti General Construction, Trustmark National Bank, W.S. “Red” Hancock, Inc., Wade, Inc., Warren Excavation, Watson Quality Ford, Watson Quality Hyundai, Whitten Farms, Wilson’s Meat House, Yates Construction Company, Andy Barham, Janice Barrett, Pat Barrett Jr., Bill Brown, Kipp Brown, Bruce & Tina Craft, Joe Davis, Greg & Belvia Giachelli, Eddie & Cris Guillot, Cecil Harper, US Congressman Gregg Harper, John Hill, Tom Hixon, Bryan Jones, Ted Kendall III, James Killebrew, John Lundy, Bruce & Julie Martin, Calvin & Mary Lou McCoy, Dr. Jim & Mei Mei Newsome, Luther & Janet Ott, Hal & Linda Parker, John Phillips, Max & Suzi Phillips, Ray & Cindy Phillips, Mark & Mary Shapley, John Stanley, David Trigiani, Jeff Turbville, T.P. Weisenberger, and Louis Wilkinson.

Others who made contributions to assist with the sale and the scholarship fund were: Black Creek Outfitters, Catering by George’s, Chimneyville Smokehouse, Inc., Cowboy Maloney’s Electric City, Daigle Enterprises, L.P., Dixie National Booster Club, Electric Power Associations of MS, Guaranty Bank, Lazy 91 Club Goats, Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant, Merchants & Farmers Bank, Mississippi Beef Council, Mississippi Pork Producers Association, MS Serum Distributors, National Awards Campus Supply, Paul Anthony’s Market, Planters Bank, Southern Beverage; Staplcotn, The Clarion-Ledger, The Gaddis Farms, W.S. Scott Company, Walker Foundation, Wilson’s Meat House, Dr. Joe Baker, Mrs. Olivia Host, Mr. Ben Lamensdorf, Mr. Richard Newman, and Mr. & Mrs. Max Phillips.

The Sale of Junior Champions continues to mean a lot to our Mississippi youth livestock program.  The 42 sales have grossed a very impressive $4,509,116.15.  The first sale in 1970 had a gross total of $7,621.35.  This outstanding activity has come a long way in 42 years!

We salute all buyers, contributors, sale committee members, Extension staff members assisting with the sale, and other supporters who help make this a special event.

Scholarships

2011 DIXIE NATIONAL SALE OF JUNIOR CHAMPIONS ACADEMIC SCHOLARSHIPS

The Dixie National Sale of Junior Champions Promotion Committee presented twenty-five $1,500.00 academic scholarships. Winners were: First row, Carley Pettigrew, Lee 4-H/Nettleton FFA; Marlee Cameron, Forrest 4-H; Christine Ladner, Pearl River 4-H; Candice Killebrew, Hinds 4-H; Anne Marie Painter, Humphreys 4-H; Holli Nutt, Scott 4-H; Kaiti Ford, Taylorsville FFA. Second row, Seth Cook, Panola 4-H; Morgan Maloney, Sunflower 4-H; Haley Shamblin, Bolivar 4-H; Jessica Wilkinson, Franklin 4-H/FFA; Gov. Haley Barbour; Hannah Miller, Hinds 4-H; Jerri Katherine Clanton, Franklin 4-H/FFA; Libby Durst, Sharkey 4-H; Leighton Domino, Humphreys 4-H. Third row, Thomas Toole, Leflore 4-H; Ty Ladner, Pearl River 4-H; Luke Lowery, Forrest 4-H; Collin Hutcheson, Lee 4-H; Clint Wall, Oktibbeha 4-H; Justin Nutt, Scott 4-H; David Hey Jr., Leflore 4-H; John Phillip Zeigler, Yazoo 4-H. Not pictured: Ashley Kerr, Sharkey 4-H and Michael Magee, Panola 4-H.
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Alert your 4-H'ers and FFA members about the scholarships for the next year. Applicants must be seniors in high school and must exhibit an animal at the 2012 Dixie National Junior Round-Up. Exhibitors who have an animal(s) in the 2012 Sale of Champions or exhibitors who receive Premier Exhibitor Awards will not be eligible. The scholarship will be payable to the university or college the winner attends as a full time student (college or university must also be in Mississippi). Scholarship applications will be sent to each county Extension office and FFA chapter about mid December.

2011 Mississippi Livestock Council Scholarship

The Mississippi Livestock Council presented a $500.00 scholarship to John McLemore Jr. of Jones 4-H/South Jones FFA.

Dixie National Junior Round-Up Premier Exhibitors

Eighty-one applications were received for the Premier Exhibitor Program at the 2011 Junior Round-Up.  The Sale of Junior Champions Promotion Committee sponsored a $2,000 academic scholarship for the Premier Exhibitor in beef, sheep, swine, dairy, and goat.  There were 35 exhibitors in the beef division, 11 in the dairy division, 3 in the lamb division, 15 in the swine division and 17 in the goat division.  The 2011 Premier Exhibitors are:

Beef – Tucker Wagner, West Lauderdale FFA
Dairy – Morgan Jones, Pontotoc 4-H
Lamb – Robyn Soignier, Hinds 4-H
Swine – Michael Buckley, Covington 4-H
Goat – Alex Huff, Rankin 4-H

Dixie National Junior Round-Up Supreme Beef Awards

The champion heifers of each breed and the Supreme Commercial Beef Heifer competed for the Dixie National Junior Round-Up Supreme Beef Female.  Alex Sullivan, Smith 4-H, received this award with her Champion Commercial Beef Heifer.  The Dixie National Junior Round-Up Supreme Beef Male was selected from the champion bulls of each breed.  Lane Walton, Mantachie FFA, received this award with his Champion Angus bull.  Each award was a $1,000 scholarship presented by the Dixie National Sale of Junior Champions.

Dixie National Junior Round-Up Supreme Dairy Female Award

The grand champions of each breed and the Grand Champion Commercial Dairy Heifer competed for the Dixie National Junior Round-Up Supreme Dairy Female.  Clint Walker, Newton 4-H, received this award with his Grand Champion Holstein female.  This award was a $1,000 scholarship presented by the Dixie National Sale of Junior Champions.