A LeFlore County rancher, calf roper, ex-legislator and nursing home administrator will receive the coveted Honorary State FFA Degree next month.
James Lockhart, of Heavener, was notified by letter that he was recommended to receive the prestigious honor because of his service as “a loyal friend and supporters of the Oklahoma FFA Association.”
“We appreciate the many contributions you have made to FFA and the agricultural youth of Oklahoma,” wrote Oklahoma FFA Association State Advisor Jack Staats and Executive Secretary Kent Boggs.
The award will be presented during a banquet May 2 in downtown Oklahoma City held in conjunction with the 91st State FFA Convention.
As a member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives for six years, Lockhart helped agriculture teachers in eastern Oklahoma many times, Howe ag teacher James Marshall said.
“He has always been supportive of the FFA chapters in our areas,” Marshall said. “He has helped us with speech workshops and judging speech contests. He has contributed monetarily, and has helped with our livestock shows and with some of the banquets we’ve held.”
“I am humbled to receive this award,” Lockhart said. “I never won any awards like this in high school or college.”
In fact, he recalled, as a high-school freshman he received a “C” grade in his agriculture class “because I hadn’t paid my FFA membership fee, which was a class requirement.”
His agriculture instructor, Richard Gibson, “pushed me to become active in FFA,” Lockhart said. “I was a calf roper and didn’t see the need to pay the FFA membership fee because I didn’t show animals. But Mr. Gibson pushed me to join FFA, promising me there was a lot more to it than just showing animals.”
Had it not been for Richard Gibson “and all I learned in FFA,” Lockhart said, “I definitely wouldn’t be where I am today.”
For example, shortly after earning a bachelor’s degree in business, zoology and biology, Lockhart was hired by the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture.
He says credit for his election to the Oklahoma Legislature “was due largely to my friends in rodeo and the agriculture industry.”
And learning to weld in his Heavener High School agriculture class has enabled him to build all of his cattle pens and barns at his farm west of Heavener over the past six years.
“Beginning with Mr. Gibson’s FFA class, agriculture has allowed me to make a good living and a bunch of friends throughout the nation,” Lockhart said.
Lockhart and his family have a commercial cow/calf operation of approximately 30 head of cattle; raise and show several registered Boer goats, a breed that was developed in South Africa for meat production; and own several horses, too. The Lockharts own approximately 136 acres and lease a quarter-section of land.
Lockhart, 42, has been a calf roper for more than 25 years. He qualified for the state high-school finals in calf roping, won the breakaway roping at a Barry Burk Junior Roping Roundup competition one year, and was vice president of the OSU rodeo team.
He qualified for the Cowboys Regional Rodeo Association finals in calf roping; has finished in the top 25 in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association prairie circuit (Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska); and he still competes professionally in calf roping, team roping and steer roping at rodeos.
Agriculture and rodeo play a major role in the Lockhart family.
Lockhart’s wife, Carrie, earned an undergraduate degree in animal science: biotechnology, and is a barrel racer. Their daughter, Hope, 16, and their son, Jakob, 9, both are ropers and barrel racers and exhibit goats. Both attend public schools at Howe.
Agriculture “is more than a business venture,” Lockhart said. “It’s a way of life. It’s a big part of who I am.”
Dennis W. McCaslin
Dennis McCaslin has been a longtime news and sports reporter for several media outlets in the Fort Smith area. He has also been a well known radio personality and play-by-play announcer for several years prior to joining InsideFortSmith.Com. He is the voice of the ArklahomaSports High School Game of the Week. E-mail: [email protected]
