Each spring brings new growth and new life, and for many young people it’s a chance to learn how to evaluate and select livestock, equine and dairy animals. 

Our Wayne County 4-H program had two different judging teams this year—a livestock judging team and a horse judging team. For either category, the 4-H members are guided on how to professionally evaluate each species to select animals that will meet the needs of the industry that they belong to. 

For example, when we evaluate breeding livestock, we are looking for animals that are going to perform well in that setting and last a long time in production. We want mammas that are structurally correct. This refers to the way their skeleton is put together, e.g. they have a nice straight back, strong and straight feet and legs, a head that is tied into the body smoothly and each step she takes makes her seem like she’s floating on air. 

We also want mammas that have width to their bodies, both in length and in depth of body. This is extremely important, because the better put together this mamma is, the more easily she will carry babies, walk through the pastures to eat, protect and feed her babies as they grow, and in general be productive while being comfortable. 

She will also pass down these traits to any of her progeny, which might be the most instrumental factor to keep in mind, especially when a producer will be building their herd or flock. Poor-performing livestock are culled and taken out of production or used for meat purposes to ensure traits that will be detrimental to the animals aren’t passed down to future offspring.

Specifically in judging contests, young people are also taught to give oral reasons to defend their class placings. 

This is a very important skill set to learn that not only aids members in gaining confidence with their placings, but also strengthens their public speaking skills. It’s amazing to watch how transformative this process is from the start of practices in late winter, to early summer when the last of the contests are over with. Members who could barely speak and couldn’t make eye contact are now able to look you straight in the eyes, shoulders back, head high and clearly make their case as to why they placed a class. 

It’s also important to note that members then use these skills to select their own project animals for their 4-H or FFA livestock, dairy or equine projects each year. When they finally make it to the Wayne County Fair in August and have their own animals evaluated, they are able to better understand the judges’ placings and learn even more from those experiences. 

Some of our members enjoy this so much that when they attend college, they join their collegiate judging teams and travel all over the country, participating in contests and judging clinics. Those who might not pursue judging beyond what they learned at the county level also take those skills back to any operations they eventually own. They will breed high-quality, productive stock that will help to feed us all in the future. 

It’s this farmer’s take that investing in our next generation of ag producers is how we will guarantee food quality in the future.