The Ellis County Livestock Show and Rodeo show has second straight record year

WAXAHACHIE – The Ellis County Livestock Show and Rodeo ran from Thursday, March 21 to Saturday, March 30, and featured several local vendors, beer and BBQ, live music from Texas country artists Curtis Grimes and Brandon Rhyder and livestock shows ranging from goats and rabbits to swine and heifers.

The event concluded with a Sale of Champions, where FFA and 4-H students who qualified by finishing in the top of their respective weight classes and divisions auctioned off their livestock.

Cameron Luedtke, of Midlothian, sold her grand champion steer for a 2019-record $27,000 to Southern Welding.

Expo livestock committee chair Amber Huckabee stated all grand champions set a record with selling 20 percent more than the previous year.

Funds are typically used by the students to reinvest into a project the following year or to apply toward college.

Ellis County Expo president Lynda Isbell remarked when they implemented the rodeo and concert portions of the 10-day event last year, that livestock sales increased by $260,000 and gained 31 new buyers.

“The sale was really good on Saturday,” Isbell said. “We also ran out of seats during the sale on Saturday. That’s one of the things we’ll be looking at next year, is to increase our capacity.”

There were 581 exhibitors and 871 entries involved in this year’s show, an increase from the previous year’s 534 exhibitors and 780 entries.

A total of 125 active buyers contributed to the show’s 216 auction sales, which amounted to $748,756 total.

As they continue to make new additions and expansions into the Ellis County Livestock Show and Rodeo, Isbell said she can’t wait to see what the show will grow into next year.