Katy ISD FFA students showed animals they raised at the 2016 Katy ISD Livestock Show and Rodeo in February. Collectively, 516 students raised more than $633,000 in sales of their animals. Logan Baird (third from right) raised the steer that won the Grand Champion award.[/caption]

More than 500 Katy ISD National FFA Organization students raised over $633,000 during the Katy ISD Livestock Show and Rodeo in February.

“That money goes directly to the students,” said Guy James, KISD agriculture specialist and livestock show coordinator.

This year was the livestock show and rodeo’s 73rd year, and James said he and those involved with the show are already working on next year’s show.

Students use the money they earned from sales to invest in their animals—including swine, steers, goats, chickens or rabbits—for the next year, James said. Purchasing another animal to raise can cost between $225 to $2,300, he said.

He said showing an animal at the livestock show teaches students responsibility and leadership through having to maintain their animals.

Another part of the Katy ISD Livestock Show and Rodeo event is the rodeo, coordinated by the Katy ISD FFA Livestock Show and Rodeo Association, a nonprofit group that supports KISD agricultural education.

“I think that I could easily say that the rodeo was extremely successful and in line with what previous rodeos were,” association President Gary Johnson said.

The association donated $68,000 to KISD in October, some of which came from rodeo proceeds. The money helps pay for students’ FFA activities, including travel expenses for conferences and animal vaccinations.

Johnson said this year’s rodeo sold out Feb. 19 and 20, and it was nearly full Feb. 18.

“We had one of the biggest Thursday night crowds we’ve ever had,” Johnson said.

The rodeo featured bull riding, bucking horses, team roping, barrel racing and calf roping among its activities.

The rodeo is sanctioned through the Cowboy’s Professional Rodeo Association.

“The rodeo itself is the longest-running rodeo of its kind in the state,” Johnson said.

The livestock show and rodeo has one more year left at the L.D. Robinson Pavilion.

For its 75th year, the event will move to KISD’s new Agricultural Sciences Center, a 2014 bond project, which will feature a multipurpose outdoor covered arena with a seating capacity for 5,000 people.

KISD agriculture students will next participate in the annual agriculture mechanics show May 18.