Life lessons from the livestock show

Katie Jones Contributor We’ve reached that time of year in Florida when livestock shows are happening almost every week. Most of the youth participants won’t choose livestock production as a career. So, why do we encourage kids to participate in livestock projects?   Livestock projects teach youth lots of skills that carry over into other areas of their lives. Caring for livestock requires the owner to decide what type and amount of feed to provide to help the animal grow. It teaches them to keep records of income and expenses and to calculate the return on their investment in their animals. They learn to set goals for their animal’s growth, as well as training their anim