A Blanco High School student recently made a name for herself—and her family, which is steeped in generations of agricultural tradition— by bringing home a national championship banner for a sheep that she raised.
Preslee Faris, who is a junior, plans to attend cosmetology school after showing a knack for the art of hair and makeup as a little girl. However, the teenager was focused entirely on the ag side of her life during the Fort Worth Stock Show that ran from Jan. 17 through Feb. 8.
At the end of a whirlwind schedule, two of Faris’s sheep had racked up four significant awards: National Grand Champion Dorper Ewe, Open Show Reserve Supreme Champion Ewe, Champion Dorper Ewe and the Junior Breeding Sheep Show Reserve Supreme Champion Ewe.
GENERATIONS OF KNOWLEDGE It turns out that Preslee Faris did not stumble upon her talent for raising sheep by accident. Her family has been breeding and bringing up Dorpers for at least five generations.
“This was a very, very good year,” said Preslee’s dad, Brian Faris, Ph.D., who spoke with the News on Tuesday. “We’re not always this successful in the show ring so we know to be graceful and humble when we win. Even when we come up short, we know to be grateful.”
The big win is borne out of many years of early mornings and late nights.
“I’ve been raising sheep since I was six years old and I’m carrying on the tradition of my dad, grandfather and great-grandfather,” Faris said. “Raising sheep most likely goes even farther back than that.”
Faris said that Preslee started showing animals when she was eight years old. He said that this win is particularly meaningful because the champion ewes came from the family’s own flock.
“These two particular ewes had her ear tag in them,” Faris said.
Through the years, the family has used their ag tradition to impart life lessons.
“We’re raising sheep and being part of agriculture, which is helpful to raising our kids,” Faris said. “They learn responsibility because they have animals at home that are depending on them. We also want people who don’t have an agricultural background to understand why we do what we do, and she has been part of that advocacy. She’s developed leadership skills by helping the kids who are younger than her. Preslee has made many lifelong friends.”
Of course, the ag life is a full-time gig and Preslee has been busy with the next generation of baby lambs.
“I’m glad she’s able to get that experience,” he said. “They have to bring the sheep in every evening because we don’t want predators to get to them if they have their lamb at night. We’ll turn them out every morning to graze because they’re pretty safe in the daytime. Just the other day she helped out with an ewe that was having trouble.”
ONE PROUD AG TEACHER Preslee has been a member of the Future Farmers of America since her middle school years and now she is a top student in the Blanco High School chapter.
“It’s one more accomplishment from one of our outstanding, hardworking students,” said Travis Kersten, ag teacher and FFA adviser, who spoke with the News this week. “This was one of Preslee’s individual projects and we’re very proud of her. It was a nationwide show and her animal showed better than all the others.”
Kersten has known Preslee for six years. Her older brother and sister also exceled in the Blanco FFA program.
“She’s told me she remembers being three or four years old, toddling around after her older siblings as they were showing animals at livestock shows,” Kersten said. “It’s just what her family does.”
Needless to say, he was proud but not surprised when he heard that Preslee had hauled in those banners.
“I see the amount of time that she and her family put in and so I think this is a product of hard work, good sheep genetics and a bit of luck along the way,” Kersten said. “They’ve really earned this.”
Kersten said that raising breeding animals is a year-round endeavor.
“It’s different than a market lamb or goat, which the person might have for half of the year and then sell,” he explained. “Her family owns these animals so it’s a project that never ends.”
