Our county youth fair takes place in late Feb/early March each year. We are thankful for the Wise County Youth Fair board, the Wise AG Syndicate, Champions & Blue Ribbons Club, the Paradise Buyers Association, and the Paradise Ag Supporters for all they do for the youth of Wise County. We have the best group of 4-H Extension Agents and FFA Advisors supporting everyone as well. 

Wise County Youth Fair 2025 Results:

Both kids earned a spot in the Premium Sale in 2025

*Caroline: Division Champion American Steer; 1st Place American Steer, Heavyweight Class; 3rd Place Light Cross Barrow; Top 3 Senior Steer Showmanship; 5th Place Exotic (Simi). 4-H Contests: 1st Place Yeast Bread (Focaccia), 2nd place cookies; Champion, Ag Product ID contest 

*James: 3rd Place English (Hereford); 6th Place Exotic (Charolais); 4th Place Yorkshire Barrow. 4-H Contest results: 1st Place Bar cookies, 2nd place Apple Pie; 5th place Photography-leading line, 3rd place photography- landscape; 5th place, Ag Product ID contest

Wise County Youth Fair 2024 Results:

Both kids earned a spot in the Premium Sale in 2024

*James: Division Champion English Steer (Hereford); Bronze Champion Light OPB barrow (York); 3rd Place European Cross Steer; 2nd place Cross barrow; Top 7 Senior Steer Showmanship. 4-H Food contest results: 2nd place apple pie, 3rd place cookie bars, 6th place Texas-themed Pecan bars

*Caroline: Market Steer Senior Showmanship Champion; 2nd Place Euro Cross Steer (Limousin); 4th Place Euro Cross (American); 4th Place Hampshire barrow; Top 10 Barrow Senior Showmanship. 4-H Food Contest results: 3rd place choc chip cookies, 3rd place bundt cake, 5th place lemon loaf quick bread. 

Wise County Youth Fair 2023 results:

Both kids earned a spot in the Premium Sale in 2023

*Caroline: Division Champion English Steer; 3rd Place American Steer; 4th Place Cross barrow; 5th Place York barrow

*James: Reserve Division Champion English Steer; 3rd Place European Steer; Market Steer Showmanship Junior Champion; 2nd place Duroc; 4th Place Hampshire barrow; 4-H Food contest 2nd Place Apple Pie 

Wise County Youth Fair 2022 results:

Both kids earned a spot in the Premium Sale in 2022

*Caroline: Breed Champion Yorkshire barrow; Reserve Breed Champion Duroc barrow/1st Place; 5th place American steer; 4-H Food contest, 3rd Place Carrot Cake

*James: Breed Champion Duroc barrow; 4-H Food contest, 1st Place Apple Pie

www.fwssr.com

This thing is truly legendary!  FWSSR takes place each year from mid-January through the first week in February. 

 The Fort Worth stock show is our first major show each season. It's our home show, right in our backyard about 40 minutes away. We've attended as visitors for over 30 years, and as livestock exhibitors with barrows and steers for 15 years. 

The weather is always tricky. Wrangling a 275 pound barrow, or a 1200 pound steer through ice and sleet is interesting, to say the least! But in Feb 2025, it reached over 100*, and many steers suffered. "Tricky" may be an understatement... The shopping is fantastic, the venues for different events are all close together, and the food options are great. There is a carnival for the kids, but the weather doesn't always cooperate. We love this show due to the traditions-- bad weather, lots of familiar faces, close to home, eating at Reatta,  and buying too many hoodies and the occasional new cowboy hat. 

www.sanangelorodeo.com

San Angelo Livestock events take place starting late January and run through late Feb. 

We have shown pigs and steers at San Angelo since 2021, and it remains the only Texas major where we have not had a Top 10 placing. The steer show usually takes place the week before the pig show, which is helpful if you show both species. The weather is usually pretty bad, as it's early to mid-February in Texas (read= ICEY) and in the western part of the state. It's a smaller show, with the rodeo taking place after all of the livestock events are over, so the crowds are manageable. 

www.sarodeo.com

San Antonio stock show takes place throughout February, usually starting the second week of the month.

We have had good luck in San Antonio. In 2025, James placed 11th with his Charolais, and Caroline showed a crazy red & white paint exotic that didn't place. In 2024, Caroline placed 9th with her Yorkshire Barrow. In 2023, James placed 10th in his class with his dark cross barrow. In 2020, both kids placed in the Top 5. 

San Antonio is our kids' favorite show. The weather is generally nice since you are further south than the first three shows. The venue is pretty laid back, with small barns for each species and a study area for students. The carnival midway is smallish so is pretty manageable during the week (weekends are crazy!) and they have great food vendors. 

www.rodeohouston.com

The world's largest stock show and rodeo takes place for 4 weeks, starting late Feb through mid-March. In the picture above, Caroline is shown talking with dignitaries from Puerto Rico, who stopped and asked her questions about raising and showing steers.

Houston has been a tough nut for us to crack, having shown there every year since 2010 and never placed. In 2025, Caroline placed 6th with her red & white Simi steer and made the sale! She placed 11th with her blue-butt barrow, and 11th with her team in the Ag Products ID contest. We were pretty happy with our time at Houston this year!

The Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo is the largest stock show, boasting over 2 million visitors and over 30,00 entries in three categories (Open show, Junior show, and Youth show). It is held at the NRG Center in the heart of Houston. NRG Center is just HUGE, with all species of livestock, and shopping, and food all in one building, which makes for a ton of walking. It is very well organized and the building is newish, it's not an old barn like many of the shows. It's clean, and usually HOT, as you are close to the gulf coast in mid-March. There's lots of shopping and food. And lots and lots of people-- over 2.4 million in 2023 alone! Parking is tough, and you gotta get there pretty darn early in the morning to even be anywhere close to the building.  

www.rodeoaustin.com

Rodeo Austin takes place for about 3 weeks starting the second week of March. Caroline was chosen to receive a $16,000 scholarship from Rodeo Austin through the Texas 4-H Foundation, we truly appreciate Rodeo Austin!

Rodeo Austin is a fun show,. The barrow show is the last show of the season, with steers taking place two weeks before barrows-- with the Houston barrows and steers shoe-horned in the middle. 

Caroline placed 9th with her Red Cross steer in 2025, and 10th place with her dark cross barrow in 2023.  

Austin is my favorite major stock show, it has the vibe of a large county fair. Very laid back, smaller venue, big carnival area with food trucks and picnic tables. We are usually tired and ready to be done with show season by the time we make it there for barrows, so it's nice to have a laid back atmosphere. 

www.bigtex.com

The State Fair of Texas in Dallas, TX runs September through late October. Our kids have served as 4-H Texas Youth Livestock & Agriculture Ambassadors for the last 3 years and have worked at the Fair, manning the Farm to Fork booth and helping families learn about raising, caring for, and exhibiting livestock; or helping exhibitors check in for the steer show or working in the swine ring. In 2024, Caroline placed 8th with her Chester barrow, and James competed with a team in the Ag Products ID contest and placed 10th.

I love the feel of showing at the historic State Fair, the barns have been there since the 1950's, there's the tradition of the Midway, Fletcher's corny dogs, the historic football match-ups of Texas VS OU and Grambling State VS Prairie View A&M. I highly suggest all show families experience the State Fair at least once; in the evening after you finish showing, the fairgrounds are usually not crowded so you get to have a little fun after putting in all the work. And parents, there's nothing better than trying to pull a 24' long gooseneck trailer through the streets of old Dallas!

The West Texas Fair & Rodeo takes place in Abilene in early September. It is a laid back atmosphere with a small rodeo and carnival.

This year, James placed 2nd with his Red Angus steer and 7th with his Polled Hereford. In 2024, James placed 5th with his Hereford and Caroline placed 7th with her red & white American.

The Texas National Stock Show takes place in Wichita Falls in late December, and is solely a swine show. They have both prospect and market categories for gilts and barrows. The venue is great, one of the best we've visited-- a huge heated/cooled barn, clean bathrooms, great food vendors, and offers a corn hole tournament. It was very well managed overall. Keep in mind that pen space is at a premium; they auction off reserved pens and the buyers can purchase as many pens as they want, so large teams typically purchase entire rows. Just be aware of this so you know to get in as early as possible to grab enough open pens. 

In 2023, Caroline placed 7th with her prospect cross barrow. In 2024, she placed 5th and 6th with prospect Yorkshire barrows and James placed 7th with a prospect dark cross barrow.

We visited the Amarillo Tri-State Fair in 2025 for the Consumer Decision Making contest. The team from Wise County 4-H placed 4th, among some very strong competitors.