BULLARD, Texas (KETK) – For the last day of the 2023 Smith County Youth Expo, some students experienced being a judge.

“We grade them from best to not worst but just less desirable,” said Stephen Hindman, Bullard Ag Teacher.

They got to see what officials look for in their animals.

“What we are evaluating is muscle thickness on these animals,” said Hindman.

The children then got to try their hand at it and see if they could pick out the best livestock.

“The importance of why we do this is to show the students what it takes or what is the best animal for our industry,” said Hindman.

Knowing what the judges are looking for could help the students when it comes to showing their animals.

“It’s important to know your animal not just cute, that it has good qualities and bad qualities, knowing that if your animal has enough muscle, knowing if your animal has bad qualities such as if it’s narrow,” said Delaney Taylor, Bullard High School Junior.

Bullard High School junior Delaney Taylor says it doesn’t just help you at the show, it can impact your future as well.

“Livestock judging is something that if you get into it, it’s something really good to get involved in, it can help you go to college on a free ride if you want to livestock judge in college,” said Taylor.

Another big part of the last day is the livestock sale. Students like Taylor already have plans on how they will spend their earnings.

“That money will go towards my pigs next year,” said Taylor.

After a hard summer on animals, farmers and ranchers, ag instructors are hopeful the students will make sale and a profit.

“I’m hoping for is that people will still come out support these students, I hope it doesn’t hurt us, but we do understand it’s a bad year,” said Hindman.

The most important lesson being, that all the students know they did their best and there are still more shows to go.