09/03/2026
๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ โ๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ค ๐๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ป๐๐ฅ๐๐๐๐ค ๐๐๐๐จ๐
๐๐ฉ๐๐ฉ๐ ๐๐๐๐ง ๐๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ: ๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐ฟ๐ค๐ก๐ก๐ฎ ๐ฟ๐๐.๐๐ผ๐
A tip of the cap to Pinnacle Livestock Solutions for starting a conversation this week about show teams.
If you've had the chance to peruse the comment section, it clearly struck a nerve.
And I think thatโs probably a good thing.
As we head into state fair season, Iโve been thinking about what actually bothers people about show teamsโbecause I donโt think show teams themselves are inherently the problem.
๐ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ธ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐โ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฎ๐บ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฟ.
And around here, weโre pretty fond of hammers.
To be clear, ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ-๐ต๐ฆ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ถ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ญ.
๐๐๐ ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐๐ผ๐น๐๐๐ฒ๐น๐ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ-๐๐๐๐๐ฒ๐บ.
Weโre pro mentorship. Pro qualified expertise. Pro finding people who know more than you and learning from them. Pro using every reasonable resource available to your family. And if someoneโs expertise has value and youโre willing and able to pay for it, thereโs nothing wrong with respecting that value with a check.
A paid show team is one way to build that system.
It isnโt the only way.
Heck, creating some semblance of one for Eder Showpigs customers is something we imperfectly strive for ourselves.
Good systems shorten learning curves. They surround kids with people who have already made a thousand mistakes and can help them avoid making every one themselves.
And yesโ
๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ต๐ฒ๐น๐ฝ๐ ๐ธ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ ๐๐ถ๐ป.
Good.
We donโt want less excellence in this industry. We want more of it.
Buy the good one. Hire the coach. Find the mentors. Learn everything you can. Work your tail off. Use your resources.
๐ฅ๐๐ป ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฎ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ถ๐ป.
But hereโs where this particular hammer can find the ditch:
๐ช๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐๐๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ฒ ๐๐๐ผ๐ฝ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ด๐ป๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ๐.
I see it in veterinary medicine all the time. Expertise eventually becomes so familiar that you forget what it was like not to know what you know.
Livestock is no different.
A well-supported kid still has to work. They still have to feed, walk, work hair, learn their animal, get beat, get better and eventually walk through that gate and execute.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ถ๐๐ต๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น.
But somebody helped select the pig. Somebody understood the feed. Somebody recognized when something needed to change. Somebody taught them. Somebody hauled them. Somebody paid for it.
And somebody had already learned a whole bunch of lessons the hard way so that kid didnโt have to.
๐๐ป๐ผ๐๐น๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ด๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ, ๐๐ผ๐ผ.
Recognizing that doesnโt diminish accomplishment.
It should deepen gratitude for it.
And gratitude has a funny way of creating humility.
Thatโs why I struggle when criticism of show-team success gets dismissed with:
โ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บโ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ซ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด.โ
Some people? Yah, they probably are.
But sometimes people arenโt jealous of success.
๐ฆ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐บ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ ๐ท๐๐๐ ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ปโ๐ ๐น๐ถ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ผ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐โ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐๐๐ณ๐๐น.
If people routinely leave interactions with your team feeling less connected, less important or less welcome in an industry that belongs to all of us, ๐๐๐๐ก๐ค๐ช๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐๐๐ค๐ข๐๐จ ๐ ๐ข๐๐๐๐ฉ๐ฎ ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐ซ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ฃ๐ฉ ๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ค๐จ๐๐จ.
And far be it from me, as a breeder, to hear a credible criticism that an Eder Showpigs customer made somebody else feel small and decide thatโs none of my business.
๐ช๐ต๐ถ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฏ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐ ๐บ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ผ๐น๐น๐.
๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด ๐ข๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ.
That woman worked.
She understood business, image and marketing before we called everything a โbrand.โ She surrounded herself with talented people and intentionally created the person the world came to know.
๐ฆ๐ต๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ด๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฝ๐๐ฟ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ฒ.
And people still mocked her. They underestimated her intelligence. They called her a dumb blonde.
She didnโt need to convince herself everybody who disliked her was jealous.
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ธ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด.
Thatโs the Dolly aesthetic I want in the show barn.
Work like Dolly did.
Be ambitious. Find your people. Build your system. Use your resources. Become ๐๐ฃ๐๐ช๐ง๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ฃ๐๐ก๐ฎ ๐จ๐ช๐๐๐๐จ๐จ๐๐ช๐ก.
Because Dolly somehow figured out how to become larger than life without requiring everybody around her to feel smaller.
๐ง๐ต๐ฎ๐โ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ต ๐ฒ๐บ๐๐น๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด.
The system shouldnโt just teach a kid how to win.
๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐บ ๐ต๐ผ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ ๐ถ๐.
Show teams create tribes, and thereโs value in that.
Just make sure the matching shirt means:
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐โ๐ฎ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ช๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ.
Not:
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฆโ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ.
There has never been a more important time to notice the first-year kid. To answer the dumb question. To congratulate the kid who edged you out on a coin-toss call. To help somebody who could never afford to hire you.
Teach your kids that being well-supported isnโt the same thing as being inherently superior.
Teach them their success can be both ๐๐๐ง๐ฃ๐๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ค๐ง๐ฉ๐ช๐ฃ๐๐ฉ๐.
Because if we really mean "๐ช๐ตโ๐ด ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฅ๐ด," then the scorecard has to include more than banners.
๐๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ถ๐ป๐ฐ๐น๐๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐๐น๐๐ ๐๐ฒโ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ต ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐บ.
The families I admire most in this industry arenโt less successful.
Some of them are ๐ถ๐ป๐ณ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐น๐ ๐๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐๐๐ณ๐๐น.
You hate drawing into their class.
But you love having them in your barn.
Theyโve figured out how to become really big without requiring everybody around them to feel small.
๐ง๐ต๐ฎ๐โ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ณ๐น๐ฒ๐
.
And thatโs how high-level competitors grow an industry instead of simply dominating one.
So as we roll into state fairs, bring every hammer youโve got.
Bring the knowledge. Bring the livestock. Bring the coach. Bring the matching shirts. Bring the competitiveness and the ambition.
๐๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ท๐ข๐ญ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ, ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฐ.
And if youโre fortunate enough to give a kid every advantage in the world, make sure one of those advantages is being surrounded by adults who teach them the humility ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐จ๐ฏ๐ช๐ป๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ท๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ข๐จ๐ฆ๐ด.
๐ช๐ผ๐ฟ๐ธ ๐น๐ถ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐น๐น๐ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฑ.
Know who you are.
Do it on purpose.
And when they slap that pig Grandโ
๐ช๐๐ก ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ข๐๐๐ฌ ๐๐๐. ๐๐ผ๐
