Hog sale report not true, says show GM

MERCEDES - The general manager of the Rio Grande Valley Livestock Show on Wednesday dismissed reports that anyone connected with the livestock show profited from the sale of hogs entered for competition.

A reader who wished to remain unnamed told the Valley Morning Star that "someone who is on one of the boards connected with the livestock show bought the hogs.

"Then he turned right around and sold them to somebody else right there in the parking lot," the caller said. "They shouldn't be doing that. That's a conflict of interest and they shouldn't be making a profit off the kids."

But McGee refuted the accusation.

"No, no, no, no," he said. "That (buyer's) name is Buddy Janecka. That (company) has nothing to do with our livestock show."

Delphin "Buddy" Janecka, whose family owns a small cattle company in Flatonia, Texas, also said Wednesday that the accusation was baseless. He said no show officials had any personal involvement in the hog sale.

"They were all fair and straight with me," he said.

He said he has bought hogs at the Mercedes show the past five years and two years ago he shipped hogs from Mercedes to Iowa and last year he shipped them to Mexico through Del Rio, as he is doing this year.

He said there are no hog processing plants in Texas. The closest plants are in Kansas City, Mo., and Iowa, he said.

"I wouldn't treat the kids that way," he said.

He added that he has tremendous losses shipping the hogs long-distance.

Janecka will pay the cost of shipping, feeding and watering the hogs at the feedlot, assuming all the risk until the hogs are sold, in Mexico after Holy Week, Janecka and McGee said.

Students and parents protested at the livestock show grounds Sunday after students received only 19 cents a pound for the hogs they raised.

Although he feels sorry for show participants who lost money on the sale of their hogs, accusations against show officials are unfounded, McGee said.

"I don't know why these people can't understand that. We're not trying to rip the kids off," McGee said. "We're trying to give them every penny we can get them."

McGee said the early observance of Semana Santa in Mexico this year effectively shut down livestock markets there so it was not possible to immediately ship hogs to Mexico for sale.

Last year's show hogs were sold in Mexico for 34 ½ cents a pound, McGee said.

"That is how these rumors get going and that's what irritates ... me," McGee said of e-mails and telephone calls to the Valley Morning Star from people upset about the sale.

McGee said he met with about five students Sunday morning who had questions about the hog sale price.

Later that day, a television news crew and a larger group of students and parents at the showgrounds questioned him and show official Bobby Sparks about the low price, McGee said.

"There were only about 20 people there and there were 375 hogs that were entered," he said.

When some of the students began to use abusive language, he ended the meeting, McGee said.

"People are lying. They don't know what they're talking about," McGee said. "The buyer did not turn around and sell them to anybody. The buyer took possession of them and hauled them off.

"There were two 18-wheelers that came up that are triple-decker trailers and hauled all 375 hogs off," he said. "Nobody affiliated with the stock show bought them."

When Janecka sells the hogs, he will turn over 19 cents a pound to the livestock show, which will immediately turn the money over to the students, McGee said.

There were only two bids for the hogs, McGee said.

"The other bidder offered 27 cents (free on board) Oklahoma City, so that would be 17 cents a pound," McGee said. "We took the higher bid. All the money goes straight to the kids."

Janecka said he probably meant to say Kansas City.

Students also had opportunities to gain extra money through "add-ons," in which sponsors contribute $50 or $100 to their final check, McGee said.

Also, students can sell tickets to barbecue sales and dinners held by local beef clubs through sponsorship programs, McGee said.