All it takes is a SPARK

Born with a fire inside, the Sparks family have a passion and competitive edge that is sure to drive them to reach the big goals they have set for themselves.

Shawn and Raina Sparks grew up raising and showing swine and continue that tradition today, passing on their passion for the agriculture industry to their three children, Jace, Javen and Jailey. However, this passion has spilled over beyond just showing swine and today the Sparks family raise and show swine, sheep and goats.

“My mom and dad showed pigs,” said Javen Sparks. “My dad teaches ag at Hartshorne FFA and one of his students kept telling me to start showing lambs and I got hooked on showing sheep five years ago.”

The oldest of the Sparks children, Jace, found his passion not only in swine but also in goats, bringing all three small species under one roof.

“Showing is really fun,” Jace said. “We work together and help each other out.

“Showing has been a tradition of ours for as long as I can remember,” he said.

Sticking true to their roots, the whole family takes part in showing their own competitive, home-raised hogs. From breeding and farrowing, to raising and training them, all the way to showing and selling them, they truly care for these hogs from start to finish.

“There’s a lot of changes through their life cycle,” Jace said. “First they’re little and on the wire, then they make it to the chip barn and then eventually if they are good enough, they’ll make it to OYE.

“Making it to the hill and in the big ring at OYE is tough to do,” he said. “But we work hard to get there and will enjoy it always having fun. Raising them from the ground up is really special. There aren’t a lot of people out there who can breed and raise good enough ones to compete at OYE.”

The Sparks are no stranger to hard work and they know that the more time spent in the barn working with their livestock projects, the more success they’ll have in the ring.

“We get home from school and change our clothes, change water buckets out, walk everything, work on our showmanship and work legs and hair to keep them fresh,” Jace said. “You’ve got to be consistent at what you do. Everyday we need to come out here and make sure they’re looking good and healthy, we need to feed them and everything else.”

Jace, Javen and Jailey are all extremely competitive and all three agree that they push each other to be better than they were the previous day.

“We are really competitive,” Jace said. “Javen and Jailey try to beat me everytime we show against each other. Competition pushes us all to be better showmen and work harder at home in the barn every day.”

Javen agrees that the sibling rivalry has made him become a better and more disciplined showman.

“For me to beat Jace someday, it’s going to take me working harder than him,” Javen said. “You’ve gotta put the right amount of work in at home to get in the ring and have them behave and work right for you.”

Beyond the competition, Jace said he’s made a lot of friends within the livestock industry.

“Going to all the shows that we do in a year, I’ve made a lot of new friends,” Jace said. “It’s fun to see them and compete headto-head with each other.”

In recent years, the Sparks family have had great success at the Oklahoma Youth Expo. Jace has made it in the Grand Drive and has qualified for the sale multiple times. However, for all three, their goal is to eventually make the limo.

“To make it to the limo would be amazing,” Jace said. Laughing he added, “I might pass out if I do make it.”

“Our goal is to always make the premium sale at the Oklahoma Youth Expo,” Javen said. “Eventually my goal is to win it!”

With big goals set, the Sparks kids know the workload will only get heavier, but that’s a challenge they’re all eager to tackle.

Beyond the showring, Jace said he eventually plans to attend college at Eastern Oklahoma State College before later transferring to Oklahoma State University to study an agriculture related field.

“My ultimate goal is I’d like to raise goats one day and work to create the next generation of competitive show goats,” Jace said.

From a young age, these three have learned the value of hard work and with enough competition from one another, they’re bound to continue to see success both in and out of the showring, because all it takes is a spark to light the fire. – Written by JD Rosman Learn more about the Sparks family here.