After weeks of preparation to make their entry into the Medina County Junior Livestock Show winning material, FFA students showed swine, steers, lambs and goats and competed in Ag Mechanics from Jan. 23-25 in Hondo.

“It’s very stressful trying to get your pig presentable for show and making sure it’s well taken care of,” sophomore Makayla Perez said. “After finding out that I placed, I was relieved to know my hard work and the long hours weren’t wasted.”

Twenty students showed and placed within the top ten in the swine competition.

“I showed a Birk Swine and we placed fifth in breeding,” freshman Hunter Erwin said. “This is my third year showing, and I love spending time with my pig and seeing the animals at the shows. I also love meeting new people and making new friends in the ring and by walking around.”

With her breeding Duroc Swine, sophomore Audrey Longoria won Overall Reserve Champion Breeding Gilt.

“I’ve never placed this high before,” Longoria said. “I was so happy with what we placed that I almost cried. Now I’m taking Junebug to San Antonio for another show.”

Along with swine, students showed different breeds of lambs, goats and steers.

“Before a show I never really know what to expect,” sophomore Kennedy Duncan said. “After showing, I felt like my steer looked good and I hoped for the best, and I ended up placing Reserve Breed Champion.”

Livestock wasn’t the only thing students competed with. Senior Jayce Hackebeil placed Overall Reserve Grand Champion with custom made knives, and sophomores Brady Hackebeil and Kannon Ramirez placed Overall Grand Champion with their gazebo.

“It took about a month to build the gazebo,” Brady Hackebeil said. “There was a lot of competition at the show, including from my brothers. Kannon and I decided on the gazebo because we had never seen anyone compete with it before and figured something different would compete well.”

At the show, 28 Devine FFA participants placed within the top ten in their division.

“This was a successful year at the Medina County show with almost every one of our kids placing,” Agriculture teacher Adrianna Segura said. “These kids represented Devine FFA well, and I am very proud of every single one of them.”