THE REAL MVP s OF AGRICULTURE

BY: LIZ TREPTOW, WEIMAR HIGH SCHOOL CTE DIRECTOR AND ADVISOR

Before the 2023 Super Bowl, Texas Farm Bureau posted, "The real MVP of tonight's game? Agriculture!" I was super excited and thought it would be incredible for agriculture to get the spotlight at some point during the game; after all, there would have been no game or ball without it!

Our little town has a Super Bowl of sorts around the same time as the big game. We still have a chapter show for our FFA members, and I like to call it the "Super Bowl" Stock Show because everyone, and I mean everyone in town, comes to watch the show and support our FFA members. It is one of the few things that they can actually watch, and the citizens of Weimar attend in mass. You can definitely say they are agriculture proud! But boy, are things different in a small town than where I came from.

Thirty-one years ago, we (Bill Treptow and I) moved to Weimar from the big city and a big school district where things like setting up for the show, inviting buyers, securing livestock judges, etc., were essentially done for us. Our big city show lasted multiple days, culminating in an auction on the last day. Easy peasy.

Now we move to a school district where they moved the buses out of the bus barn so we could set up pens for housing and a show ring right in that SAME bus barn. After the steers were judged, we would break for lunch, start tearing down the show ring, and set up for the auction that evening. Talk about a different way of conducting a show - it was a mad rush from one thing to the other. On top of that, we did not really know anyone and did not require the kids to send out invitations to buyers but relied on the FFA members and their parents to do the invitations.

I remember vividly days before the show asking Bill repeatedly how things could possibly work out!? Had someone invited the auctioneer? Were buyers going to come? Who would catch bids? Who would keep up with the sale? His reply then and every day before was, "Don't worry, they will come. It's just how it happens around here; people will show up." That was great in theory but definitely not overly reassuring!

The funny thing, though, is that they really did show up and have done so every year since! That first year, literally 30 minutes before the sale (seriously), the sale barn auctioneer walks in, the owners of the local auction barn show up to catch bids, the buyers take their seats, the community of Weimar fills the bleachers, and we begin with a tap of that same auctioneer's gavel. In thirty-one years, many things have changed, but so many have remained the same. Our kids do send out invitations to buyers now! We have our own project facility built with donations from community members. We have a two-day show and sale (but that only started after Covid). However, that same auctioneer still walks in, the owners of the local auction barn still show up to catch bids, the buyers still take their seats, the community of Weimar still fills the bleachers to overflowing, and we still begin with a tap of that gavel.

Looking out across the bleachers, one will see parents, siblings, civic groups, grandparents, business owners, FFA alumni, and maybe even an NFL running back –all there to proudly support FFA members who are definitely involved in agriculture!