San Benito students take home most coveted prizes from stock show
Winners of Grand Champion prizes at the Rio Grande Valley Livestock Show in Mercedes are San Benito students (shown front, l-r) Richard Matthew Gonzalez, Ramiro Gonzalez, III, Joseph Partida, and Daniel Cavazos. (Staff photo by Francisco E. Jimenez)
By FRANCISCO E. JIMENEZ
Staff Writer
reporter@sbnewspaper.com
The San Benito Future Farmers of America (FFA) had a remarkable showing at this year’s Rio Grande Valley Livestock Show in Mercedes.
Three students took home the prized Grand Champion status for their respective divisions, as well as one student winning Reserve Grand Champion and numerous others placing at the livestock show.
“When you win the first division, it’s awesome, it’s tremendous in terms of hoping that it will just keep going forward,” said FFA sponsor Eddie Garcia. “It’s nice to talk that way, but the truth of the matter is that all of that is not possible without the work of the parents, the students, and our administration team at the San Benito school district.”
Daniel Cavazos, an 11th grader at San Benito High School took home the Grand Champion prize in the Market Steer division with “Cutie”. This is his second time showing a grand champion steer at the RGV Livestock Show, a feat that Garcia said is almost unheard of.
“I received the steer in about late April of 2010. It weighed about 350 to 400 pounds. It was pushing 1,300 pounds (last week),” said Cavazos. “It’s just a lot of hard work. You have to go out to the farm every day. You can’t miss a single day, you have to go make sure it has feed and water. It’s a lot of work every single day of the year.”
Cavazos then went on to describe what it was like when he found out that he and Cutie had won the Grand Champion award.
“It was awesome, I can’t explain it, it was just wonderful,” Cavazos said. “I’ve been raising animals since third grade. I’ve showed a hog every year since third grade, and I started showing steers in 2007. I was in seventh grade. Next year, for sure, I’ll probably get a couple of steers and some hogs.
Joseph Partida, a seventh grader at Miller Jordan Middle School, was the Reserve Grand Champion for the Market Rabbit division.
“It was really fun raising all of those rabbits. You gain responsibility having to go out there and feed them,” said Partida. “(Raising rabbits) is not as hard as raising the other animals, but it was hard.”
This was Partida’s third year competing in FFA, but it’s his first year winning the awards.
“It feels really good, but it takes a lot of hard work to get there,” Partida said. “I entered three (rabbits), and all three placed. They compete as a group.”
Richard Matthew Gonzalez, a 10th grader at San Benito High School received the Grand Champion award for the Market Poultry division.
“We get a total of 50, and we only take three to the show,” said Gonzalez. “It was a good experience. This was the first time I got Grand Champion.”
According to Gonzalez, the judges look at the breast when judging the poultry.
“I raised them for about five weeks,” said Gonzalez. “I got them February 3. They were one day old. It was amazing. My work paid off. I will raise poultry again next year.”
The youngest of the Grand Champion winners was Ramiro Gonzalez, III, a third grader at Ed Downs Elementary. Ramiro won Grand Champion in the Market Hog division with his 280-pound hog named “Socks”.
“It felt good,” said Ramiro about winning Grand Champion. “I know how to get it ready, because you just have to feed it every day and walk it. You have to go real early. It was amazing.”
Ramiro said that he hopes to raise a steer next year, and maybe replace the “Hog Market” on his belt buckle with “Steer Market”.
For the San Benito Future Farmers of America, the future looks bright, indeed.
See this story in print by picking up a copy of the March 27 edition of the San Benito News.
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