Jan 17, 2025
It is stock show time in Fort Worth. The legendary event opens its 23-day run on Friday, Jan. 17 with livestock and horse shows, kid-friendly activities and exhibits, live music, carnival midway, shopping, food, rodeos, and much more. One of the first competitions celebrates innovation, craftsmanship, and the future of agriculture. The Junior Agricultural Mechanics Project Show lets kids show off what they can do with their hands. “Ag Mechanics are the kids that are in the shop. They’re building stuff. They’re designing stuff in their head, so they get to come to the Ag Mechanics show and present what they built in the shop,” said Jay Ewing, a superintendent with the Ag Mechanics show. The 4H and FFA members work under the supervision of instructors and adult leaders to build or restore projects in six divisions: Agricultural Machinery & Equipment Livestock Equipment Outdoor Recreational & Convenience Wildlife Equipment Trailers Farm & Ranch Restoration Arlington Heights High School in the Fort Worth ISD will enter about a dozen projects in this year’s contest. Senior Max Milton and junior Adrian Tristan started planning, building, and welding an eight-foot deer stand back in the fall. “It was just a thing where I could learn it now and later on if I wanted to do it in the future as a job or something, I already have the base knowledge of doing it and even if I don’t, it’s good to have it in the back where I can use it later,” Tristan said as he talked about learning how to weld. “We have to do our measurements, draw blueprints because we have to make our own for the ag show andonce we get all our measurements, how much material we need,” Milton said as he described the process. “Then we just start cutting it up for all the pieces we need and slowly put it together. A few things have gone wrong but teamwork, leadership, patience, and perseverance prevailed. The completed deer stand stands tall and is ready to go before the judges at the stock show. “I’m not nervous, I’m more excited than anything,” Tristan said. “We’ll hand out probably over $150,000 in prize money, scholarship money, and merchandise,” Ewing said. “We have a lot of sponsors that support this, and they provide a lot of their equipment. We get a lot of welding machines. We get a lot of steel materials. So depending on your placing, you get X amount of steel to take home and build the next project that you’re showing.” Even if there’s no blue ribbon or scholarship money at the end, these young men have already won. “You just come in, do your best, and keep going every day. And it may be hard to weld at first, but it just takes practice like everything else,” Milton said. Even if there’s no blue ribbon or scholarship money at the end, these young men have already won. “You just come in, do your best, and keep going every day. And it may be hard to weld at first, but it just takes practice like everything else,” Milton said. “At the end of the day, you see what you’ve made. It’s awesome. It’s pretty awesome,” smiles Tristan. The Jr. Ag Mechanics show starts Friday, Jan. 17 with Tractors on Parade and ends when the awards are announced on Sunday afternoon. You can see them all inside the Equestrian Multi-purpose Building on the grounds of the Will Rogers Memorial Center.
Respond, make new discussions, see other discussions and customize your news...

To add this website to your home screen:

1. Tap tutorialsPoint

2. Select 'Add to Home screen' or 'Install app'.

3. Follow the on-scrren instructions.

Feedback
FAQ
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service