THOMASVILLE- Many of the exhibitors of the Thomas County Junior Livestock Association spent most of last week in Perry, Ga., for the Georgia Junior National Livestock Show, and the team came home with many accolades.

Twelve Thomas County exhibitors showed 24 hogs. Competition at the hog show was stiff, with more than 1,500 hogs at the show, so the team was very pleased to place in the top 10 several times – including three first place finishes and a division reserve championship – a first in TCJLA history.

Thomas County Junior Livestock Association placings were:

Hog Showmanship

Charleigh Hurst – 5th place (of nearly 50 exhibitors), 4th grade showmanship

Drake McLeod – 8th place (of more than 120 exhibitors), 10th grade showmanship

Barrow Show

Drake McLeod – 1st, division reserve champion; 3rd

Wesley Peeples – 1st, 6th

JC Young – 2nd, 8th

Hadlee English – 4th

Devin Claiborne – 5th

Rilyn McLeod – 6th

John David Young – 8th

Charleigh Hurst – 9th

Gilt Show

John David Young – 1st

Charleigh Hurst – 4th

Devin Claiborne – 5th

Hadlee English – 6th

Kassie Jo White – 9th

Grayson Diekman, Kaylee LaMarr and Brennan West also competed with their hogs and came up short of top 10 finishes in classes of 25 or more.

Beef Show

While the hog show was ongoing, the beef heifer and steer shows were happening in another show arena. Three TCJLA exhibitors showed five beef livestock projects, and they also represented Thomas County well – with projects they’ve been working on for at least a year.

Jaleigh Hurst, who won the 2024 state market steer show, showed the overall reserve grand champion heifer at this year’s show with her 20-month-old purebred registered Angus heifer named Candy. Candy will eventually become part of Jaleigh’s breeding stock on her family’s farm, helping to grow more show steers and heifers for other exhibitors.

Other placings at the heifer and steer shows included:

Jaleigh Hurst

2nd place, 9th grade showmanship

Reserve breed champion – low percent Simmental heifer

Breed champion – Shorthorn steer

Karlee Williford

3rd place, Maine-Anjou steer

McCall Thompson

5th place, high percent Simmental heifer 

“We’ve been building the association for several years, hoping to get to this point,” said TCJLA president Scott Peeples. “The first few years, we didn’t bring any hogs to the show, then we had two, then 10, and now we brought home 16 top 10 finishes in weight classes.”

He added, “Of course, we are glad to be successful in the ring, but it is so much more than that. Our kids – representing Brookwood, Thomas County and Thomasville City Schools – displayed camaraderie and good sportsmanship all weekend. They laughed, they played, they made new friends and new memories as a team.”

This year’s show team will show their projects one more time at the TCJLA county show on Saturday, March 1 at 9 a.m. at the Thomas County Ag Center (Sunset Fire Station) at 244 County Farm Road.

The market animals will be sold at a live livestock auction on Monday, March 3 at 6 p.m., also at the Ag Center. Premium buyers are needed for the sale, but add-on donations are also welcome. All premiums and donations are tax-deductible – TCJLA is a 501(c)3 charitable organization – and directly benefit the exhibitors at this year’s show. Most of the exhibitors either use their earnings from this weekend’s show and sale to help pay for this year’s project, plan for next year’s project, or save for college.

To learn more, visit TCJLA on Facebook or Instagram:

https://www.facebook.com/ThomasCountyJuniorLivestockAssociation

https://www.instagram.com/thomascountyjrlivestockassoc/