Lipan senior awarded $10,000 scholarship from San Antonio Livestock Show

A Hood County student’s passion for agriculture paid off in more ways than one during the San Antonio Livestock Show & Rodeo last month.

Cameron (Camey) Powers, a senior at Lipan High School and 4-H member, was awarded a $10,000 scholarship on Feb. 11 after being crowned the Agricultural Public Speaking Champion in the Senior Agricultural Policy/Agribusiness category.

“Ag policy deals with legislation and policy relating to agricultural events and issues,” Powers said in an interview with the HCN. “What makes a good speech is something that everybody cares about, and something that would impact everybody.”

Her speech titled “When Care Becomes Cruelty,” centered around Initiative 16, a ballot initiative that was proposed in Colorado in 2021. The ballot initiative would have criminalized farmers, ranchers, and veterinarians who use accepted animal husbandry practices — like spaying and neutering, birthing assistance, and reproductive practices — to care for animals.

“It was basically going to cause upheaval in every single animal husbandry practice because it deemed artificial insemination as rape, and they deemed any sort of touching of an animal's genitals as rape or sexual assault because an animal cannot consent,” Powers explained. “Essentially, it outlawed slaughter of an animal until they were a quarter of the way into their natural lifespan, which would obviously cause huge economic impacts.”

Initiative 16 is a topic that Powers feels very strongly about. In fact, she gave this same speech last year during the San Antonio Livestock Show & Rodeo.

“As an ag person, and as somebody who has lots of friends who are livestock producers, (Initiative 16) is an issue that affects all of us,” she said. “Agriculture is something that I really care about, so the speeches are about ‘How do we address these issues so that we can ensure agriculture has a place to continue?’”

Ever since she was nine years old, Powers has been attending the San Antonio Livestock Show & Rodeo and has been competing in the horse judging division, but this was her first year to be awarded for a speech.

“Last year, winning a horse judging meant a lot to me — that was my first $10,000 scholarship from San Antonio,” she said. “But I’ve been saying that speech for a year. Last year, I took that speech to San Antonio, and I got like third place, but just being able to see my public speaking improve over the past year meant a lot to me.”

Not only did she receive a monetary award, but Powers was also able to educate a few agriculturists through her speech.

“In FFA, we have what's called the FFA Creed,” she said. “It's a five-paragraph creed, written in 1928, and it basically outlines the values that we are to have as agriculturists. It basically outlines we're supposed to create a space for agriculture to continue to exist, because it's necessary, so to me, that's what public speaking is for. Every single time I go to one of these contests, there's always somebody who approaches me afterwards that says ‘I didn't know about that. That's crazy.’ These organizations in agriculture as a whole have given me so much, so it's just rewarding to be able to educate and give back; that's what keeps me going.”

While originally from Lubbock, Powers said being able to continue to compete in horse judging with her lifelong friends in San Antonio is also special to her.

“The thing about San Antonio is that it brings us all together,” she said. "Winning San Antonio, my friends get to be there and see that for me and that's been pretty meaningful every time.”

Following graduation from Lipan High School, Powers will be attending Texas A&M University in College Station.

“I'm committed to horse judge at A&M so I'll be starting with them in the fall and studying animal science for my undergrad,” she said. “Hopefully the goal will be to go back to be a professor of equine/animal sciences, and then coach their collegiate horse judging team.”

Powers added that she is “very grateful” for her agricultural opportunities, for Lipan FFA, and for her mentors: Dr. Christy Petry at West Texas A&M University, and her mother, Lori.

“I've had some incredible mentors along the way,” she added. “Dr. Christy Petry, she has been with me for 10 years. She has coached me in judging and speaking, and it's pretty much her and my mom. I have had a great example of really strong women in my life, and I'm just grateful.”