Would everyone please direct their attention to the screen. I want everyone to quickly read through the sentence that will appear when I turn on the projector. Don’t memorize it. Just quickly read through it. This time I want you to read through the sentence and while you are reading count the number of F’s that appear in the sentence. How many people saw four F’s? Five F’s? Six F’s? Seven F’s? Now read through the sentence one more time and once again quickly count the number of F’s that appear in the sentence. How many people saw four F’s? Five F’s? Six F’s? Seven F’s?

Allow me to show you the F’s that appear in this sentence. There is a F in Facts, F in Find, F in Finished, F in Files, F in Of, F in Of, and F in Scientific. There are seven F’s in this sentence.

Here is my question to you. How come you didn’t see seven F’s? How come you only counted four F’s? You only noticed the F’s at the start of a word. People tend to overlook the F’s in the little words, such as of, or the ones that appear in the middle of a word. I often wonder why those F’s get overlooked. They are no different that the other F’s in the sentence. How come these F’s are left out?

The same reason why those 4-H and FFA members who invest their money in an animal project, work hard, play by the rules and enjoy success get overlooked. Why? That is my question. Why?

It is obvious that people always focus on the negative rather than the positive, but I never realized that until it happened to me. My younger brother and I used to raise show pigs together. We would go to a stock show every weekend. My father was my ag teacher, and my mother would come along too, so it was a big family outing.

One weekend my brother won champion at a show, and when my mother got back to work the next day, she was telling everyone about the big win. One of her co-workers approached her and asked the question, "With all the shows ya’ll win, how do ya’ll keep from getting caught with drugs?"

My mom was not a happy camper. She exclaimed, "What are you talking about? We don’t use drugs or any other unethical practice with our animals!"

The lady held up a newspaper and on the front page was an article and picture of an animal that had been caught with the drug clenbuterol. The co-worker replied, "This article implies that now all exhibitors use drugs in their animals. Is this not true?"

My mother was now enraged, which is not a good thing. When my mother gets mad you better stand back. She called the president of this large metropolitan newspaper and proceeded to gripe about the ... excuse me, proceed in a very heated discussion exclaiming that not all livestock show exhibitors are unethical. It was funny, but the next day there was an article printed in the paper about my brother's accomplishments that weekend and the positive things he has learned from his livestock project.

It’s a shame that there are unethical incidents that are ruining the image of youth livestock shows. Like many activities in this country, 90-95 percent of what happens is extremely positive. Unfortunately, there are a few bad apples that have created a negative image that holds a cloud over all show ring activities. Here is my challenge to you. Don’t dwell in the past. Don’t use the argument that a handful of people are ruining it for everyone. As long as one person is still using unethical practices , a negative shadow is cast over all show rings. Instead try to stop those who are causing the problems.

So the question is, "What is the perspective of all 4-H and FFA members? What is their role in fighting this issue? One young lady summed up an answer to both of those questions.

In the state of Texas we have a Texas Junior Livestock Association, which sponsors a speech contest for its members. I was lucky enough to judge the contest, and one of the young ladies delivered a speech about stock show ethics. At the end of the speech, we were allowed to ask questions. I asked the young lady, "The finger has been pointed in many different directions. Many people blame the FFA Advisors and County Agents, others blame the parents, and still some say it's the fault of the 4-H and FFA exhibitors."

She started, "That’s the easiest question I have ever answered. Whose animals are they? The exhibitors, regardless of who is trying to use illegal practices, have the sole responsibility because it is their animal. It is because of these young people that we are all here. FFA and 4-H members are the heart of it all."

The young lady described an incident in her life. Her freshman year in high school she showed a steer at a local show. To her surprise, her chaperones began to pump her steer full of air. The young lady was enraged and exclaimed for them to stop. That courageous young lady got in a very heated debate with her parents and got in a lot in trouble, but she made a very strong statement that day. As long as anything illegal is done to my steer, I will not set foot in that ring.

When that young girl walked out of that room she made a statement that left a big impact in my mind and sums up my whole speech here today. I want everyone to carefully listen to this statement. "For the current situation of youth livestock shows to improve, one person must take the responsibility: the EXHIBITOR."

The entire purpose of this activity is for FFA or 4-H members like myself to, through an animal project, learn responsibility, travel, meet people, have fun, and share experiences. As long as livestock shows want to be part of the future of this country, every 4-H and FFA member around the country has to take the responsibility.

I want everyone to hear this and think hard about it. What are you doing right now to promote ethical practices in the show ring? WHAT ARE YOU DOING? Are you trying to promote that positive image?

You can’t procrastinate and say when it gets really bad, then I’ll do something. Do you know why? Because then it will be too late. Livestock shows are a lot like life. A lot of people don’t realize how valuable a life is until after they have lost it . Don’t let livestock shows be treated the same way. If we don’t do something about ethics in livestock shows today, they may not be in existence in ten years. We could lose this extremely valuable activity just like that.

So here is what I want you to do. I am one of 444,416 FFA members and 4-H members. I want each and everyone of you in here today to go out and tell five 4-H or FFA members what went on this weekend and that they too must take the responsibility in turning this thing in the right direction. I promise you that in their eye they truly love livestock shows, and they would hate to lose them. It is those young people that can truly take the initiative and make the difference.