After shearing a couple of sheep, washing the pigs, and marking all animals with their numbers the contest was in full swing for the many eager 4-H'ers. They had to judge 6 classes and talk 3 sets of reasons. By midafternoon, the contest had finally wrapped up and after loading out all of the livestock back to their respected farms, all 9 of us on Mizzou's Livestock Judging Team piled into the white van and headed North.
We made it as far as Kirksville, MO and stopped for some dinner at a local bar and grill. We were missing out on the first home SEC football game, so we HAD to catch it on tv. It was a nice evening of team bonding and cheering for our favorite football team. Go Tigers! But, life isn't all play and no work, so that evening when we hit the hotel we went over some judging classes and prepared for the upcoming contest.
The following morning we talked a couple sets of reasons to our coach at the hotel and then joined the "Judging Carvan". Now, let me explain. If you've never seen a judging caravan, it is quite the sight! 20-30 white vans all travel together from one producer's farm to the next. Down gravel roads, through small towns, and all across the country. Many producers are kind enough to let us look at their stock, but ask that we all come at one time so they're not getting their animals out for multiple days.
The first stop was a Berkshire hog producer. We all put on plastic boots (biosecurity is a must) and made a large circle out on the lawn. Imagine 200 kids all in one big circle with notebooks in hand, as the producer drives 4 hogs out for us to evaluate. We continue this parade, driving from one farm to another for the entire day. Lots of pigs and lots of practice!That night we headed to the hotel where the real fun begins, talking reasons. Reasons are a key component of a judging contest and take lots of practice to become skilled. In the hotel, our coach sits in his room to listen, and we pace up and down the hallways perfecting our justification as to why we placed the class. We often give the safe set of reasons multiple times as our coaches gives us advice on how to improve the set. By 10 or 11, we called it a night and headed to bed for the big day ahead.
Monday morning was contest day! The National Barrow Show contest consists of 9 classes of judging and 4 sets of reasons. From Hampshire boars to Crossbred barrows, we judge them all. The contest started at 8 am and lasted until 4 in the afternoon - a long day of mental stress to say the least. And once the end of the contest rolls around, we are all so relieved and so very tired. The official judges of the contest go over the placing so we know how we placed and can anxiously await results in the morning.
Tuesday morning we headed back to the fairgrounds where the contest was held for the awards ceremony. Many plaques and awards are handed out and teams are recognized. We then walked around the show for a short while and headed back home to Missouri. All in all a great weekend in Minnesota!
A few of the ladies at the awards ceremony!
L-R: Laura Wilsdorf, Alyssa Thomas, Elaine Martin, & Kelly Jahn
No comments:
Post a Comment