Purpose      
The purpose of the Major Livestock Show Advisory Committee is to ensure that agriculture teachers of Texas have input with the major livestock shows as to recommendations and judges for upcoming shows. The committee will serve as a branch of the Agriculture Teachers Association of Texas and under the pleasure of the Association's Board of Directors. The committee will work in conjunction with the county agriculture extension agents’ Animal Industries Committee.

Committee Make-Up      
All members of the committee must be members of the Agriculture Teachers Association of Texas. The committee will be lead by co-chairs, consisting of the past president of the Association and an elected representative from the committee for a two-year term, up to two terms. An elected recording secretary will be selected from the committee and will serve a two-year term with no term limit. 

Two members from each of the 12 FFA areas and other members as needed to represent all divisions involved in the various major livestock shows. The chairperson will be the immediate past-president of the Agriculture Teachers Association of Texas, the vice-chairperson will be the current president of the Association and the recording secretary will be the Association executive director. The two members from each of the 12 areas will be elected to alternating two-year terms, with the member in the second year of their two-year term to serve as the voting member for that area. The other members will be teachers elected to represent a division of the different shows if there are no elected members of the committee with experience in that particular area. These members will be called species chairs with no voting privileges on the committee.

Committee Meetings      
The committee will regularly meet three times each year. The committee will meet at teachers conference to establish the committee for the year and to elect species chairs. The committee will also make recommendations for classifiers for the shows during the coming school year. At the fall meeting, the committee will make judge recommendations to the shows and make recommendations for possible changes at the State Fair of Texas. At the spring meeting, the committee will make recommendations for changes to the shows that have taken place after the State Fair. The fall and spring meetings will be in conjunction with the county agent Major Livestock Show Advisory Committee meeting. Extra meetings could occur if the chairman feels they are in the best interest of the committee or the Agriculture Teachers Association of Texas.

Committee Responsibilites      
Committee members will make contact with the teachers in their respective area to get input dealing with the major livestock shows in the state. They will come to the fall meeting with recommended judges for all species at all major livestock shows. They will also have recommendations for the State Fair at that meeting. The members will come to the spring meeting with recommendations for each of the major livestock shows held after the State Fair. The committee will also maintain a list of classifiers of VATAT members, active, honorary and associate, to recommend to the shows for each species. Working with the county agents committee, the committee will help maintain an accurate judges list for all species of livestock and other show areas.

Species Chairs      
The purpose of the species chairs is to ensure there is someone at each of the Major Livestock Show Advisory Committee meetings that represent all species of livestock that is shown at each of the major livestock shows. The species chairs, along with the officers of the committee, will meet with the county agents’ group to help compile a consolidated list of any document that is to be sent to the shows. This will be done at both the fall and spring meetings. The officers and the species chairs will also meet with the representatives of the different shows when the recommendations are presented. The species chairs and the officers are to represent the wishes of the entire committee when meeting with the county agents committee. If a species chair has to deviate from the wishes of the Major Livestock Show Advisory Committee, they must check with the committee chair. In the event that a species chair can not attend any of these meetings and it is determined that they are needed, a representative from the committee will be appointed for that meeting as a replacement. The species chairs will be elected each year at the Major Livestock Show Advisory Committee meeting at teacher’s conference from the committee membership. In the event that no elected member on the committee has expertise in a particular area, an active teacher can be selected from the general membership. A species chair has no additional authority on the committee than any other member. The species chair must have participated in most of the previous year’s livestock shows in that area. A species chair cannot serve in that capacity for more than three years. The areas of representation will be as follows: Steers, Heifers, Swine, Sheep, Goats, Poultry Competitive Events and Ag Mechanics. There can be additional areas if the Agriculture Teachers Association of Texas Board feels they are needed. Species chairs that are not elected members of the committee will not attend the meeting at conference.

Agriculture Mechanics      
Each area will elect an Agriculture Mechanics representative at conference. That person should participate in Agriculture mechanics contest at the Major Livestock show. That person can be elected each year. The chair will be the representative elected form the area that corresponds with the year of that conference.

Competitive Events      
Each area will elect an Competitive Events representative at conference. That person should participate in competitive events at the Major Livestock show. That person can be elected each year. The chair will be the representative elected form the area that corresponds with the year of that conference.