Age: 18
Parents: Travis and Georgia Jackson
Hometown: Bergman, Arkansas
FFA Chapter: Bergman FFA
Advisors: Clint Simmons and Kent Mathis
What is your favorite aspect of agriculture?
“Animal science is what I like best. I enjoy raising animals and seeing them grow with my nutritional adjustments hopefully producing the best possible product.”
Who is the most influential person in your life?
“My dad is really the most influential because he got me started in agriculture. He was always telling me what he did when he was younger and offering me a chance and agriculture in other areas such as taxidermy. He has tried to help me be the best I can be.”
What is your current involvement in agriculture?
“Right now I still belong to FFA and am in between high school and deciding what I’m going to do with the rest of my life. At this time I am raising, showing and selling show pigs, both exotic crosses and purebred Yorks full-time. I use both AI and natural breeding to differ the genetics and improve them. I have eight sows, two of which are purebred, and two boars with one being purebred. I feed and water the pigs at 6 o’clock in the morning and then go to work at Wallis Construction, helping with both demolition and construction. Then I return home around 4 o’clock to feed and water the pigs again, as well as to walk and train them in addition doing to regular farm chores.”
What are some of your agricultural memories?
“I guess my earliest memory is seeing baby pigs born and cleaned, and then given general health care such as castration or shots. I also remember a time when I was 14 and my brother Case was 6; he was showing goats when one named Lightning started pulling him around and he ended up under the back end of the car but refused to let go. Another time one of the little goats got out of the pen and tried to climb the stairs to get to us but kept falling back down. Animals are fun.”
Awards: “I won first place at the county level for showmanship with my pigs and when I was 13 I won a show box with a cow skin top that I now use to hold my awards. I also have a Grand Champion Born and Bred Cross buckle in addition to winning first place in showmanship at the district level.”
What are your future plans?
“One thing I know for sure is I want to build my own cattle herd. I wanted to be a vet at least partly because others wanted me to. Then I wanted to go to college for animal science and then taxidermy when I thought I might be able to learn taxidermy best from my dad before starting a business of my own. Right now I am working construction while I am trying to figure it all out.”
