After sixty years of livestock shows in the Jim Norick Arena- the Grand Champion drive of the four market species at the 2025 Oklahoma Youth Expo wrote the final chapter of the storied facility. And the final species for the 2025 show, as usual, was the market steer show. The lead judge for the steer show, Bob May of Wisconsin, called it the greatest set of steers he has ever seen in a single show- and he then proceeded to walk up and down the line of the ten breed and Crossbred champions before walking up to the Crossbred Champion and pointing to and congratulating Madilyn Norvell of Amber Pocasset FFA for showing the final Grand Champion Market Steer to ever show in the Norick Arena.
It’s already been an incredible year for Norvell- who won the National Western Market Steer Show back in January and sold her Grand Champion Market Steer in the mile high city for a record for that show of $210,000. It’s unlikely that she will see that kind of money at the Premium Sale for the OYE on Friday afternoon- but she does have the honor of leading off the sale of the top market animals at this year’s sale with her steer named Ricky. The full sale lineup is now available- click here to check it out.
Reserve Grand Champion Market Steer was the Champion Chianina- owned and shown by Hadlie Bell of Bristow FFA. The Bronze Medallion Steer(third best) was shown by Denver McKay of Mulhall-Orlando FFA-Denver had the Reserve Champion Crossbred steer. These three steers were the best of 516 steers shown in 2025.
Over seventeen hundred barrows showed up and participated in the 2025 OYE- and the best of the best was the Champion Hampshire barrow- shown by Kaleb Dorr of Wagoner FFA- Kaleb was showing his Champion Hampshire barrow in the Grand Drive.
Reserve Grand Champion Market Barrow was shown by Emma Selvidge of Morris FFA. The Bronze Medallion Market Barrow was the reserve Dark Cross shown by Gracie Little of McLoud FFA.
There were just over a thousand market lambs on the Fairgrounds showing in the 2025 Oklahoma Youth Expo wether lamb contest- and when the dust settled in the Grand Champion Market Lamb competition- Skylar Dooley with her Champion Division One Black Faced Cross was best of show- the Lomega 4-Her showed the Grand Champion Market Lamb.
Reserve Grand Champion Market Lamb was the Champion Division 2 Black Faced Cross- owned and shown by Sayde Allen of Canute FFA.
The Bronze Medallion market lamb was the Reserve Champion Division One Black Faced Cross- shown by Layne Allend of Canute 4-H.
Speaking of Sayde Allen of Canute FFA- she was at the top of the 2025 OYE Market Goat show- winning with her Division 5 Market Goat on Thursday evening.
Reserve Grand Champion Market Goat was shown by Adison Thompson of Noble FFA. The third best goat in the 2025 show- the Bronze Medallion Goat was shown by Layne Allen of Canute 4-H.
These twelve animals will lead off the Premium Sale on Friday afternoon at 4 PM at the final event for the OYE in 2025- and the final event for the OYE in the Jim Norick Arena. The Big House will be closed around the first of May with the OG&E Coliseum- the replacement for the sixty year old Arena- expected to be open for business by the first of June.
Click here for the full schedule for the 2025 OYE. The Oklahoma Farm Report team will be snapping pictures from start to finish- and you can see them as we add them to our Flickr album for 2025- available here. If you want to look back to the 2024 OYE- click here for our pictures from last year’s event.
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.
The Sale Order for the 2025 Sale of Champions is now available- Check it out below!
