Breeder Spotlight
LC Genetics & Co.
Levi, Tonya, Lawson & Lane Canales Amarillo, Texas Levi Canales is certainly making his mark in the showpig arena. He has had tremendous success in the CTBR program this year and is one that will be judging many more stock shows to come. Many of you watched him evaluate the Stars gilt show at San Angelo, doing an excellent job, and getting a little choked up about his experiences and what everything has meant to him personally. Levi has great character and a wonderful sense of humor; extremely respectable and outgoing, Levi is a great role model to others. You will always see him enjoying himself with hogs, family, and friends. As a supporter of the TPPA and a breeder certainly on the rise, we asked him to tell his story and give all of us the opportunity to get to know him and his family better.
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feel like my story is a little different than most who raise showpigs. I grew up in a small south Texas ranching community, Hebbronville, TX. Although we were not involved in the production of show animals, my dad and grandfather always raised livestock. Growing up, hogs were the first specie I showed as a kid. I always preferred showing pigs and like I said when I was judging the San Angelo gilt show, I was the kid on the outside looking in. So maybe not being as successful as I’d like, gave me the motivation to raise pigs with the ability to win. After high school, I attended Clarendon College and Texas A&M on judging scholarships. While attending Clarendon College, I met Chris Fischbacher. Chris’s dad, Marcel, was raising show pigs and I spent my free time with them at their farm in Wildorado. In 2002 Cole Gardner, Chris and myself bought three purebred Hampshire gilts at Duncan and that was the START. “I truly believe that the success that I have had is due to the people God has placed in my life.
There are so many other people, that I have not mentioned, that have helped me along the way.” Several people have not only influenced me but helped along the way, like Chris and his family. First would have to be my dad, who is not only the reason my brother and I are addicted to raising livestock and doing something competitive, but also why it’s in our kids’ blood! He truly has a passion for agriculture. My brother Leo has basically paved the way for me. I followed in his exact footsteps to Clarendon and Texas A&M. Leo was in charge of selecting my show animals growing up and was average, at best, in that role. Luckily for him, he now has me to select his kids’ show barrows! Although he is seven years OLDER than me, I am glad we became best friends after college. He is one of the smartest guys I know and if I have learned anything from him, it’s to be very critical… because up to about a year ago everything I raised, according to him, SUCKED or was not good enough for his kids to show! I was fortunate to have one of the best ag teachers in the state of Texas, Juan Flores. He was the start of my livestock judging career. He taught me the fundamentals about livestock. We went on to represent the state of Texas in back to back years at the National Western stock show in Denver, Colorado. Another big influence, my brother and I were fortunate enough to have was Mr. Jerry Hawkins. Judging under him gave me opportunities and experiences that I would not have had anywhere else. More importantly than that, he taught us about life. My mom was very comfortable leaving her two boys with this man eleven hours away from home. He was right about many things, one though stands out; he told me when he was recruiting me that I would find my wife at Clarendon! After college I started buying cattle for JBS Swift & Co. in York, Nebraska. At that moment I didn’t know if I’d last one year, but I was so glad and will forever be grateful that the Hirschfeld family took me in as one of their own. Ross, Chad and Jason have done more for me than I’ll ever be able to repay. It was there where I did most of my growing up and learning in the business. I looked through hundreds of pigs monthly. I got to see boars and gilts at conference shows and then in their “working clothes” three weeks later. At the time I helped farrow at least 200 sows twice a year and pitched in at the boar stud. It was there, at that farm, where I knew what kind I wanted to raise. I started taking my stand, drawing a line in the sand if you will, on the kind I liked and the kind I didn’t want to mess with. Most of my sow herd goes back to Hirschfeld livestock genetics.