Caleb Mahan wants to educate others about agriculture
HUNTSVILLE, ARK. – At age 16, Caleb Mahan has more experience working with livestock than most people twice his age.
He knows how to help young people choose animals for showing, he knows what to feed the sheep and goats on his family’s farm, Mahan Farms, and he knows how to provide overall high-quality care for the animals.
Caleb is also heavily involved in the Madison County Shooting Club, which his parents operate.
“My parents help set it up, so I’ve grown up around it,” he said.
Like his work with animals, Caleb excels at shooting, taking second overall at Daisy Nationals in Rogers, Ark.
His primary goal, whether it’s animals or shooting, is to educate others on how to excel and be aware of what’s available in the agriculture industry. For example, it’s that high-quality care that most show livestock receive that he wants to educate fellow young people (and adults) about when he participates with his own livestock.
“My primary focus is getting other youth into showing,” he said. “I want them to know that the livestock are not abused. In fact, they are treated better than most animals out there. There’s not a better way to educate people than to just do it. That’s the best way to show them is to always make sure that the animals are taken care of to the best of my ability.”
Caleb said when people come to local and state fairs where he’s showing animals, “all they know is what they’ve heard PETA say, and I want them to see how the animals have an all clean stall and they are being fed well.”
While he’s involved with both show lambs and the goats, Caleb said he spends most of his time with the dairy goats.
“I put most of my time into the dairy goats because they have their own individual personalities,” he said. “I bottle raise all of mine.”
Caleb said his passion for educating young people on livestock showing and quality animal care is because the “ag industry is losing so many youth. I want to make sure they are educated on the many agriculture organizations that are available.
“We are losing so many people in agriculture, and the youth need to know that it’s a very important industry,” Caleb continued. “We provide more than just meat. People wouldn’t be able to live without the crops and meat that are provided by the agriculture industry.”
Most of the kids he works with and that the family sells show lambs to are involved in 4-H, Caleb said.
“I show through 4-H because that’s going to help the younger kids the most,” he said. “My whole purpose is to help out the younger kids. I’m able to have a good impact on kids who don’t otherwise have (that influence).”
