Jackie Buckley of Mandan, North Dakota, will be honored as the Agriculturist of the Year at this year’s NDSU Little International Showmanship Contest.

The 96th Little International is scheduled for Feb. 11-12 at NDDU’s Shepperd Arena. The event is organized by more than 300 members of the NDSU Saddle and Sirloin Club and led by manager Ashlyn Dilley.

Buckley will be honored at the Agriculturist of the Year banquet Friday, Feb. 11, at the Sanctuary Events Center in Fargo.

Buckley is a retired NDSU Extension agent of 37 years. She has been a member of the Morton County Weed Board, Bismarck/Mandan Agriculture Chamber Committee, Morton County Crop Improvement Association, North Dakota Living Agriculture in the Classroom Committee and coached the Morton County 4-H and Mandan FFA livestock judging teams.

She is a 1979 NDSU graduate who majored in animal science and minored in food nutrition and agriculture communication. While at NDSU, she was involved in the Saddle and Sirloin Club, and was a Little I princess and received the club’s outstanding senior award.

Buckley is a Morton County commissioner and teaches at Bismarck State College.

Tickets for the Agriculturist of the Year banquet are $20 and can be purchased by contacting Dilley at littlei.management@gmail.com or 701-739-3361.

The NDSU Little I Livestock Showmanship contest is set to begin at 8 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 12, with Saddle and Sirloin club members and other students showing beef, dairy, swine and sheep. The showmanship finals are scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. that night.

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