Washington County 4-H Livestock Judging Team places 13th nationally

Washington County 4-H livestock judging team has been running at a fast and intense pace the last couple years that built skills and success to earn them a spot to represent Iowa 4-H at the National Western Stock Show in Denver January 7.

The contest itself was an intense and long day of judging and oral reasons but Washington County 4-Hers Carmen Sieren, Iris Peterson, Anna Nafziger and Greta Sieren earned 13th overall only five points from the top 10. The contest also scores them by species placing them 8th in swine, 9th in cattle, 11th in oral reasons and 13th in goats.

“I will never forget what it was like to judge in Colorado. The quality of animals, and the atmosphere of the arena will always be something to remember,” explained Nafziger, member of the Limecreek Limelight 4-H Club.

The team was able to fit in some special experiences while on the trip. It started with traveling through a 250-mile snowstorm. Day One they were able to tour of Agfinity Feed & Grain in Eaton, Colorado which is the largest volume feed dealer in the state and manufactures fee for all the dairies in the state of Colorado. They practiced at Magness Bull Development Center, attended Roundup sessions, enjoyed a fancy celebratory meal trying new foods and ‘laughed until it hurt’.

“This team has been a lot of fun to travel with this past year. They are very cohesive, feed off of and learn a lot from each other. The amount of progress that has been made over the past couple years has been very impressive,” said coach Brandon Freel. “We have a couple young ladies that have only been judging for 2-3 years and to be able to make a national contest in that short amount of time says a lot about their commitment to the program. Much like sports, you can't just start practicing when the season gets here and expect to compete for a championship every year — it's the work you put in the offseason that will set you apart from the competition and these girls are at almost every single practice and contest all year long.”

There were teams representing 20 states from all over the country, but Washington County 4-Hers still found connections to home. “I learned what a small world the agriculture industry really is,” shared Carmen Sieren, member of Dutch Creek Flyers 4-H Club. “While walking around the stockyards we talked with some Colorado exhibitors who were related to people from Wayland.” Their tour was also led by Washington County 4-H alum Tye Sexton’s wife, Ashley Budde Sexton.

Livestock Judging is an activity that teaches the difference between livestock based on certain selection criteria, but additional outcomes is participants also develop critical thinking and public speaking skills so that they can give reasons and can defend a decision they have made. This project area develops confidence and teamwork.

“I’ve been taught to view something for what it is and then clearly express my opinion to someone else,” explained Peterson about skills learned through judging. Peterson is a member of the Washington Go Getters 4-H Club. Greta Sieren, member of Dutch Creek Flyers agreed, “I’ve learned to evaluate options and be confident in my decision making.”

The team is already looking forward to the next season hosting winter workouts every other weekend and planning their spring farm visits. “We may not have had the day in Denver that they were all hoping for as they had pretty lofty goals but I think that will do nothing but fuel them going into the spring and summer and compete that much harder,” said Freel.

The Washington County 4-H volunteer livestock judging coaching team is made up of Brandon Freel, Dustin Ford, Ted Greiner, and Chad Younge. They coached anywhere from 10-40 kids at workouts from January to August.

“We are thankful to have such caring adults with judging expertise who want to invest such time and teach our young people in this project area, and for a community who supported them financially with donations to make the trip possible as well ,” said Amy Green, Washington County 4-H/Youth coordinator. “I am so proud of how these ladies represented our program and themselves during this preparation and competition. They have been dedicated and responsible and are great role models for younger members in our program.”

Contact Amy Green at the Washington County Extension Office, 319-653-4811 or amygreen@iastate.edu, to find out more about how to support this project area. Follow “Washington County 4-H — Iowa” on Facebook for up-to-date information and photos on 4-H/Youth Extension programming throughout Washington County.