Fifteen DeKalb County 4-H members recently traveled to the Tennessee Livestock Center in Murfreesboro to compete in the Central Region 4-H Livestock Judging contest where their knowledge of beef cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs were put to the test. This contest is one of the largest judging events in the region with around 25 counties and 290 youth participating this year.
In the junior age division of 4th and 5th graders, the team of Adonis Cooprider, Kena Denton, Chloe Miller, Riley Scarbro and Kaylee Womack placed 15th. Kaylee had the top score of the team and placed 19th overall.
In the Junior High division of 6th-8th graders, both teams placed in the top ten. Cali Agee, Laura Magness, and Gauge Packed placed 6th while Kylynn Smullen, Bill Stanton, and Izayah Dowell were 8th. Izayah was the 5th high individual in the contest out of 103!
Finally, our Senior High team of Jenna Cantrell, Ansley Cantrell, Luke Magness, and Avalynn Smullen placed 16th with Ansley being the top scorer on the team. High School members must also be able to explain verbally why they placed the class the way they did as an added challenge. This requires good communication skills as well as thinking under pressure.
Livestock judging allows young people to develop decision-making and critical thinking skills while evaluating and selecting meat animals. They also learn more about the livestock industry as a whole by learning how to read and use performance data and genetic information to assist in the selection of livestock. Eight total classes of animals were judged at the contest.
These youth represented DeKalb County well at this very competitive event. Our members worked hard and practiced several times. We also made some farm visits and had a lot of fun. We want to think Jimmy Herndon and Melissa Oliver for letting us visit their farms. If you are interested in learning more about livestock judging, or any other 4-H event, please call 615-597-4945.