The rodeo always strikes me as one of the more unique parts of living in Houston. Our climate, and largely our history, is not particularly western, so a chance to go to a fair, see the trail riders and experience a stock show is always novel.
Our rodeo first began in 1932 as the Houston Fat Stock Show, which continues as the Livestock Show portion of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. Houston’s stock show is the largest in the world, forming with the direct goal of expanding the local Houston livestock market.
The HLSR originally formed with a much heavier focus on agriculture, intending to expand Houston’s cattle market and promote the American Brahman cattle breed. The American Brahman weren’t being highlighted in the Fort Worth stock shows, but they thrive in the Gulf Coast region due to their unique adaptations for our humid and warm climate. The stock show was successful in their goal, by 1939 Houston ranked 7th nationally as a cattle market. Today, it continues to promote agriculture, especially for youth, a crucial goal as America’s farm producers continue to age – the median age of farm producers is 58.
The junior market auction continues to break records in bidding – this year multiple records were broken, including in the lamb category, by Reagan Miller who raised $1,000,000, and in the goat category, by Paizlee Akins who raised $450,000. The proceeds raised by exhibitors in the junior market auction go both towards premiums received by the exhibitors, and to the educational fund, which will provide over 800 scholarships this year, in addition to educational grants and graduate assistantships.
For these reasons and more, the livestock show is my favorite part. While the judging is very emotional (especially for the junior market competition: kids selling a calf they’ve raised always brings some tears, both happy and sad), the opportunity to see so many animals, especially cows, all in the same place is quite neat.
Another portion of the rodeo is Agventure, which shares both a similar educational mission, and the NRG center with the livestock show. It is a series of educational exhibits about agriculture, with a vast array of breeds and animals, from rabbits to donkeys. It promotes a greater understanding of where our food comes from, including a hatching exhibit where chicks are incubated (it is surprisingly exciting to see them hatch), a beekeeping exhibit with a focus on the importance of pollination for agriculture, and a birthing exhibit. The birthing exhibit is, well, fairly intense, but it does provide a greater appreciation and understanding of the processes necessary to the meat markets, and an opportunity to see some baby animals. It includes both lamb and pigs, and I did enjoy seeing the piglets and lambs, which aside from the circle of life, are also very cute.
In the same vein of cute animals – the permanent educational rabbit exhibit, the Rabbit Hole, shows over 40 different rabbits, from tiny to surprisingly large. It ends with two very polite rabbits which you can pet and shows over 20 different breeds of rabbit and cavy. Although Agventure is primarily aimed at children, a majority of the exhibits are friendly for all-ages, and included in admission to the rodeo. I encourage anyone going to the rodeo in the coming days to check it out and consider our place in agricultural production. That said, if you have children, there are also pony rides, and the exhibits as a whole are very interactive, they’ll enjoy it too.
I appreciate the livestock show, and the educational exhibits adjacent to it. I think it is always good to think more about where our food comes from and appreciate the lives of the animals we depend on. I hope that in the future it can encourage more sustainable farming overall, and maybe even a move away from overconsumption.
