The first day of the show has arrived, and the OKC Fairgrounds is buzzing with excitement as the Oklahoma Youth Expo is running parallel with the state high school basketball tournament.
In the barns, OYE Executive Vice President Kass Newell tells Oklahoma Farm Report’s Ron Hays that her staff and team of more than a hundred volunteers are ready to coordinate the dozens of events that make up the 2025 Oklahoma Youth Expo- called over the years the “world’s largest junior livestock show.” Listen to Ron and Kass by clicking on the Listen Bar Above.
For 2025- there were just over 32,000 entries received at the show’s headquarters on the south edge of OKC Fairgrounds, and all of the species had more entries than in 2024.
It’s the last year to utilize the historic Jim Norick Arena- and OYE will move into “the Big House” for one more time on Sunday morning after basketball wraps up their final run of Championships.
Meanwhile- the breeding animal shows will be full speed ahead, with the MoorMan’s ShowTec Commercial Breeding Gilt Show kicks off at 8 AM in the Barn 6 Performance Arena- the Dark Cross Division begins the OYE show schedule with the hope of each exhibitor to see their animal selected to get “up the hill” and make the main show ring for a chance to be placed in their respective class- and the ultimate hope is to be later selected to be one of the 120 or so gilts that will be in the Night of Stars Gilt Sale next Tuesday, March 18.
Newell says that the 2025 schedule sees the Ag Mechanics Show, bigger again in 2025 with 350 entries headed for the fairgrounds, set to happen on Saturday this year in The Pavilion.
Other changes here in 2025 include the Cattle Fitting Contest moving to the first Friday of the show- March 14(in Barn 8) and the Ewe show happening on Sunday in the Superbarn Arena.
The Complete Schedule can be seen by clicking here.
Our coverage of the 2025 Oklahoma Youth Expo is sponsored by Hilliary Communications. More than 60 years ago, the Hilliary Family acquired a small telephone company in rural southwest Oklahoma. Now in its third generation, the company has grown from a single exchange with just 100 access lines covering 22 square miles to now serving more than 19,000 customers in 22 counties throughout Oklahoma & Texas. The company also offers IP television service and internet speeds up to 1 Gig. Click here to learn more about Hilliary Communications.
