Gearing Up for the Main AGJA Events by Carter Mitchell
I hope that everyone’s 2017 is off to a great start! There are many upcoming American Gelbvieh Junior Association (AGJA) events for all of my fellow junior members and me to attend. For me, some of my favorite times each year are those spent at an AGJA event. From regionals to leadership conferences, there are so many ways to get incorporate the AGJA into your 2017 schedule.
To backtrack a bit, we kicked off our year with our annual donation raffle. The heifer raffle is the largest fundraising opportunity for the AGJA. We couldn’t pull this off and be successful without the help of so many supporters and enthusiastic members. I would like to thank Rippe Gelbvieh for donating pick-of-three heifers for us to raffle off. Their continued support is greatly appreciated. To all who purchased tickets from a junior member, I thank you as well. And last but not least, I want to say thank you to all the AGJA members who sold tickets. It is always exciting to see fellow juniors doing their part to help improve the AGJA.
The next big events on the AGJA calendar are the Eastern and Western regional shows. Our regional shows are a great way for juniors to get out and prepare and practice for the Junior Classic. Catching up with friends and taking part in a few contests are just some examples of the fun to be had at the regional shows. This year the Eastern Regional will be held in Batesville, Mississippi, June 2 to 4, 2017. Or, for those of you closer to Colorado, the Western Regional will be held in Las Animas, Colorado, also on June 2 to 4, 2017. The host committees have been hard at work preparing for our juniors.
My favorite part of summer is always my week spent at the AGJA Junior Classic. The Big Red Classic will be held in Grand Island, Nebraska. AGJA members will invade Grand Island June 25 to 30, 2017. Are you as excited as I am to see what our Nebraska Gelbvieh family has in store for us? I guarantee that you won’t want to miss it! Whether you’re showing cattle or want to make it in the Top Ten All-Around, there are so many great contests to take part in. And let’s not forget about sitting around the show box catching up with all our friends. I can’t wait!
To round out the summer, the AGJA will be taking part in the brand new IGS leadership conference called The Summit. For those AGJA members age 14-22 who are interested, start making plans to journey to Lincoln, Nebraska August 3-6, 2017. This multi-breed event will be a weekend full of learning and networking and is open to all youth in the beef industry. There will be more information coming soon, so stay tuned.
As 2017 continues, I challenge you to be as active with Gelbvieh as possible. There are many sales, state and national shows, field days, and other industry events that we can attend to stay up-to-date and informed. I look forward to seeing you all at a regional show and especially at Junior Classic!