Members of the Governor’s School for Agriculture’s livestock show teams and their animals now will travel to competition in comfort and style, thanks to wise budgeting and careful planning.
A large contingent of students who represent our school at livestock shows around the state gathered in front of De La Howe Hall on Tuesday (1/7) to take a closer look at a new 2024 F350 Crew Cab pickup with a 6.7-liter turbo diesel engine and a new 30-foot aluminum trailer. The trailer was custom-built by Virginia-based Adam Trailers and purchased from Riverhill Farm Trailers in Fountain Inn.
“Our students who are livestock exhibitors will greatly benefit from this truck and trailer,” said Dr. Timothy Keown, school president and superintendent. “Students travel thousands of miles a year exhibiting their livestock; they needed safe transportation. We were fortunate to have managed our budget extremely well last year, which allowed us to procure the truck and trailer. We are grateful to the General Assembly and state of South Carolina for the support of our students at the South Carolina Governor's School for Agriculture.”
Mrs. Libby Templeton, who coaches the school’s cattle show teams, marveled at the many features of the new trailer. The vehicle has an onboard tack room with a side ramp for loading, a hay pod for hauling hay and feed on top, full rubber floor mats. LED lights and tie-out rails down both sides of the trailer.
“This will allow us to haul any of our livestock animals to all the shows,” she said. “It gives us more room, not only for the animals themselves but our tack and equipment. It has a much better capacity.”
Historically, the show teams have had to travel with more than one trailer or make multiple trips to event locations. “This is really going to improve our performance at shows because we have more room, we can take more stuff, we’re not cramming to fit stuff in,” said Kelly Tasch, a veteran animal show competitor. “Now we’re able to make one trip rather than three or four.”
Luke Williams walked through the trailer and even stretched out for a few minutes on the padded upper shelf of the onboard tack room.
“We’ll look a whole lot more professional, and we’ll be able to keep all of our stuff better,” he said. “Cleaner, and we’ll be able to separate all our cows from our equipment. It’s a whole lot more roomier now.”
