By ANN ALLEN
Indiana Correspondent

PLYMOUTH, Ind. — Wes Richey saw his first livestock show when he was six-months old. Thirty years later, with a degree from Oklahoma State and a list of championships as long as his arm, he conducts feeding and grooming sessions across the country.

Richey will speak on the afternoon of Friday, Sept. 5 during the Farm World Expo at the Boone County Fairgrounds in Lebanon, Ind. The Expo will be the largest outdoor farm show in Indiana this year. For Expo hours, driving instructions, a schedule of events and more, visit www.farmworldexpo.com

“Demonstrations like this are important,” he said. “Kids have to do it on their own for their county fairs and for the state fair. A lot of kids know a little about showing but they want to learn more. I always ask for questions. I feed off the crowd.”

He also conducts two and four-day clinics at his home. “Those clinics are more in-depth,” he said. “There’s a lot of hands-on work.”

“I’ve been grooming cattle since I was 12,” he said. “I know where these kids are coming from. I started in their same shoes. You have to learn the ropes as you go along.”

A 10-year 4-H veteran, he won awards at the county, state and national level in both showmanship and judging events.
“Out of seven years, I won the showmanship award five times,” he said. “I’ve won a fair amount of judging contests.”

On a northern Indiana cattle ranch, Richey is a partner with his brother, Shane, a seed sales representative; his father, Tom, a state livestock inspector; and his mother, Karen, the Marshall County extension educator for consumer family science.
Their farm, Richey Brothers, buys, sells and trades heifers in addition to year-round bred heifer and semen sales.

Richey continues to bring home success in competition. One of Richey’s animals won Reserve Champion Shorthorn Heifer at the 2006 Indiana State Fair, and more recently, they showed the Champion Prospect Steer at the 2008 Oklahoma Beef Expo. The Richey farm has earned num-erous breed awards.

As for that first show when he was six-months old, he said, “It led me in a lot of good directions. Learning to show and judge cattle helped me earn a scholarship to Northeast Oklahoma where I earned an associates degree before transferring to Oklahoma State. I travel a lot - Sioux Falls, S.D. last week, demonstrations at the Hereford Junior National Show, shows in Colorado ... I’ve met a lot of new people outside of Indiana and developed better communication skills.”

He’ll put those skills to work at Farm World Expo.
“I base all my clinics on the methods my employer used when I was in college,” he said. “I hope someday to get to that level.”