The 87th Little International Livestock Show, the largest student-sponsored event at NDSU, is scheduled for Feb. 8-9.
The show features showmanship classes of horse, beef, dairy, sheep and swine, as well as contests for ham curing and public speaking.
Commonly known as "Little I," the 2013 event's theme is "Our Roots Run Deep." More than 300 students participate in planning and organizing the event.
The Agriculturist of the Year is honored each year at Little I, and educator Lyle Warner of Baldwin was selected for the 2013 honor. Warner earned a master's degree in agricultural education at NDSU in 1981. His career in agricultural education has spanned 36 years. He was at the North Dakota State College of Science in Wahpeton from 1976 to 1981 and has been at Bismarck State College since 1982.
Warner served on the committee that developed articulation agreements and common course numbers for all the college campuses in North Dakota offering agricultural courses. At North Dakota State College of Science, he started and developed the curriculum for the Agribusiness Department. At Bismarck State College, he chaired the Agribusiness Department for eight years and served as adviser of the Post-Secondary Agricultural Student organization.
Warner also helped develop the Perpetual Flock Program through the North Dakota Lamb and Wool Producers Association. The program gives qualifying young people 10 ewes to help them get started in the sheep business.
Nick Austin, a crop and weed senior from Westhope, is manager of this year's Little I. Levi Helmuth, an agricultural economics junior from Lambert, Mont., is the assistant manager.
"As the final weeks come to a close, it is nice to watch everything fall into place and enjoy the company of the contestants who have spent so many hours preparing for this show," Austin says.
The queen of Little I will be senior Mandy Peine, an accounting major from Vermillion, Minn. Calli Lemm, an agricultural communications junior from Hillsboro, and Christine Wanner, an agricultural education senior from Wishek, were selected as princesses.
Event highlights include the Hall of Fame social and banquet on Friday, Feb. 8, at the Ramada Plaza Suites, Fargo. The social begins at 5 p.m., with the banquet starting at 6 p.m. The $25 tickets can be purchased by calling Megan at 701-231-7641 or the Little I banquet chair, Amy McConnell, at 715-307-7947.
The alumni luncheon is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 9, at 12:30 p.m. in theatrium of Loftsgard Hall, and the annual Dance in the Chips is set for 11 p.m. in Shepperd Arena.
For a complete schedule of events during Little I, visithttp://www.ag.ndsu.edu/academics/87th-little-international.
NDSU is recognized as one of the nation's top 108 public and private universities by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education.