Local 4-H livestock judging team will represent Iowa in Denver

DENVER — The Washington County 4-H Livestock Judging Senior Team has been gearing up all winter for this honor and national competition at the National Western Stock Show in Denver this week. They leave early Jan. 8 as a team to arrive in Denver for competition on Jan. 9 and 10.

The Washington County 4-H Livestock Judging program has continued its strong tradition of competing at a high level this spring by placing third at the Iowa State Livestock Judging Contest. This top honor earned them a seat to compete at the National Western Stock Show in Denver, Colorado.

Brynn Younge, Charlotte Sieren, Garrett Greiner, and Peighton Ford are the Washington County 4-H team members competing in Denver and have been dedicating many hours to prepare for the next level of competition with 4-H volunteer coaches Dustin Ford, Derek Henningsen, Chad Younge and Ted Greiner. "The cool thing about the four of us is that we've been a team since fourth grade, when we first joined 4-H and started judging. Over the years, we've learned and grown so much together, and we've become really good friends,” said 4-H’er Brynn Younge.

“This team is capable of great things, even at a highly competitive national level,” said coach Dustin Ford. “Our goal is for all of them to deliver their personal bests but most importantly, this is a capstone trip for a team of great talented and hardworking individuals. We want this to be something they remember and are proud of for the rest of their lives.”

Livestock judging consists of critiquing and analyzing four animals per class and then ranking them from top to bottom. They use their skills to select the animals that possess the most desirable traits “relative to an ideal animal.“ This activity is like what judges do at county fairs and other shows. Most contests consist of both breeding and market animals for cattle, swine, sheep and goats.

“Some of the most important skills that we have learned are communication skills and speaking in front of others,” said Peighton Ford.

After placing the animals, youth stand in front of a judge and present their own individual oral reasons. This consists of verbally describing why they placed one animal over another by sharing descriptive differences between the four animals. They earn points based on their placings and reasons. There are both individual and team placings at each contest.

“Washington County has a long track record of success, and we are excited to see how participation grew in the past few years” said Charlotte Sieren.

The judging program includes 10-40 kids at workouts from January-August. Washington County 4-H’ers with a livestock judging interest meet every other week during the winter, in preparation for the spring and summer contests. When the team returns from Denver, all members will start meeting again for winter workouts and prepping for the next state competition. The frequency and intensity of practices picked up in preparation for summer contests.

“We have multiple practice judging workouts throughout the summer at farms within the county and appreciate the hosts as they help us prepare for local and state contests,” said 4-H’er Garret Greiner.

In preparation for this Denver contest, the team has worked to collect sponsors to help with registration and travel expenses to Denver. 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 team and the livestock judging program.

Follow “Washington County 4-H — Iowa” on Facebook for up-to-date information and photos on 4-H/Youth Extension programming throughout Washington County.