Texas Farm Credit Awards Nacogdoches Youth Ag Video Showcase Grand Champion

Surrounded by members of the Regents Academy 4-H Club, Texas Farm Credit Nacogdoches Branch Manager Angela Shannon (right of check) presents Bridger Ethridge (left of check) with a $1,250 donation to the club in honor of Ethridge winning Junior Grand Champion of the Texas Farm Credit Youth Ag Video Showcase. Ethridge also won $2,500 in prize money.

Texas Farm Credit recognized local ag student Bridger Ethridge by presenting him with a donation to his hometown 4-H club.

Nine-year old Ethridge entered the Texas Farm Credit Youth Ag Video Showcase (YAVS) contest and won Grand Champion of the Junior division. Ethridge’s video won him $2,500 as well as a $1,250 donation to Regents Academy 4-H Club in Nacogdoches.

The showcase encouraged local youth to submit a 2-3-minute video spotlighting their agricultural project. This contest was developed by Texas Farm Credit in order to support the passion of ag students in lieu of canceled stock shows and other ag-related events due to COVID-19.

The entries were judged by an employee selection committee using the contest scorecard located on the showcase submission webpage. The scorecard gave points for overall presentation, creativity, design, content, and organization.

Ethridge’s video explains how he came to be a second-generation beef master breeder and a fourth-generation cow-calf producer in a video he calls, “Bridger’s Beef Cattle Project: Where the Past Meets the Present”.

By all indications, this inaugural contest was a success and Texas Farm Credit plans to host the event again in 2021.

The Youth Ag Video Showcase is part of Texas Farm Credit’s Passion Forward program which has a goal of giving backing 2% of their annual net income to local communities each year.

Texas Farm Credit finances agricultural operations, agribusinesses, homes, and rural real estate, and offers a variety of insurance services. Headquartered in Robstown, Texas, it serves 100 Texas counties and is part of the Farm Credit System, a nationwide network of rural lending cooperatives established in 1916.