our youth: AG KIDS
Hammin’ It Up
JUNE 2020 PARKER COUNTY TODAY
By MELISSA MOORMAN
Rachel Speegle is an impatient 16-year-old who,
because of Covid-19, is waiting until the Department
of Motor Vehicles opens again to get her driver’s license.
She said her dad, who is a lieutenant with the Parker
County Sheriff’s Office, said it was at the end of May.
Luckily, she didn’t have long to wait.
Rachel will be a junior in the fall at Weatherford High
School. She said after agriculture her favorite subject is
history. She especially likes learning more about Texas
history.
While she’s waiting on the reopening of the DMV,
Rachel is working hard getting her Hampshire pigs ready
to show at the upcoming Parker County Livestock Show
beginning on June 7. Like many other Texas students, her
show season last year was cut short and she was just able
to show her animals in Fort Worth before the rest of the
state closed their livestock events down. Rachel says she
likes showing pigs because of the experience.
“They are honestly hilarious pigs,” she explained. “They
are kind of hard because they get really big. The biggest one
we’ve had was probably 270 pounds.” She didn’t place in
Fort Worth because it was such a big show. However, since it
is a terminal show, she still had to say goodbye to an animal
she had worked with daily to get it ready.
Rachel with Taz
Weatherford Girl Is Shooting For
Raising Top Soooie
Rachel with Bamm and Pebbles
“You watch your pigs grow and then have to see them
go. You get paid for them, but not much,” she shared. At
the upcoming Parker County Show, she has two pigs and
has been working hard to get them ready.
“I’ve been walking them … making sure they get
their heads up, working with my ag teacher, Pete Black,
on their feed and what to do,” she said. Her ag teacher
has been a real inspiration and has led Rachel to want
to be an ag teacher herself after finishing college. She
began showing pigs last year and had some success earning
$1,000 in winnings, which she is saving for college.
Rachel plans to attend either Texas A&M or Tarleton and
majoring in agriculture secondary education.
“At first, I wanted to be a veterinarian, and if I was
an ag teacher, I could still be involved with all of the
animals. I grew up around animals,” she said. Her family
lives on 2.5 acres and she has her pigs at home on their
land.
“I like to keep my pigs at my house so I can check on
them anytime I want. I focus on my pigs 100 percent,” she
continued. Like many kids, she’s learned responsibility by
being involved with showing animals, but she shared that
there are other benefits as well: “I definitely have gained a lot
of friends in ag.”
116