Beatrice teen to test showmanship skills in annual contest

Austin Zimmerman of rural Beatrice stepped into the show ring for the first time when he was 2.

Now 18, Zimmerman has had more than his fair share of experience of showing animals — and it shows.

The son of Tammy and Brian Zimmerman will represent Gage County in the third annual Nebraska Master Showmanship Contest on Saturday at State Fair Park in Lincoln, where he’ll compete for the top prize and scholarship money. He was selected as Gage County’s representative for taking top showmanship awards in both sheep and swine at the Gage County Fair in July.

This will be Zimmerman’s third time participating in the event. The first year he took second place overall.

Zimmerman said he has traveled around Nebraska and to Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma, Indiana and California to participate in animal and showmanship judging, he said.

“I learn a lot of skills, a lot of lifetime skills, like a hard work ethic, and I like getting to know the animals,” he said.

For the past five years, he has been showing his own herd, a business he began as an FFA project, he said. Today, his Duroc swine herd now has five sows and multiple show pigs, he said. He breeds, raises and sells pigs.

“It’s been my entrepreneurship,” he said.

Zimmerman credits his father for getting him interested in raising pigs at an early age and teaching him the importance of agriculture.

“Agriculture is so important in this country,” he said. “It’s more important than people realize, we need to keep it going.”

Dedication has been the key to his success in the ring and with his herd, he said.

“A lot of it has to do with how much time you spend with (the animals) at home,” he said. “They have to be used to you.

“It’s like a sport, it takes practice just like anything.”

The practice, and learning about the breed of swine he raises, can be time-consuming, Zimmerman said, and a balance has to be found.

But, to him it’s been worth it. He just finished his first week as a freshman at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where he’ll study agriculture engineering, he said. He is carrying a full course load with classes in chemistry, calculus, agriculture economics and engineering.

“I love it enough it doesn’t bother me,” he said. “It’s taught me that to get anywhere in life you’ve got to work at it.

“It’s not always going to go your way, but you’ve just got to work at it.”

Since he’s going to college close to home, he can come back to take care of his herd, he said, but noted that his family helps a lot.

Zimmerman says he spent last weekend and Friday preparing himself and his pigs for the big show in Lincoln. He also prepared to show sheep and cattle, as required to participate in the competition, he said.

He will be required to take a written examination to test his knowledge, he said, and he’s definitely been studying for that.

All in all, he’s confident he’ll do well, thanks to his experience and preparation. But he realizes it’s all in the hands of the judges.