Livestock glamor

OTHELLO — Future Farmers of America and 4-H members from all over the state of Washington traveled to the 2023 Othello Fair for the Livestock Judging event Friday morning, where they took a turn in the show ring to competitively judge animals.

“What we do is we just take some animals that are pre-selected and we get four in a class and then the kids are asked to judge them on the quality,” said Grant County 4-H Program Coordinator Carolyn Russo. “This is market livestock judging, so most things are market. Sometimes we'll throw in a class of prospect breeding heifers or something.”

Meat composition, the animal’s anatomy and structure and the overall “carcass quality” are some of the factors the competitors judge for market animals, said Russo.

“It's kind of a fun experience for the kids to line up the four that they want in the class, and then they mark their cards and an adult leader makes a mark over the top of that so it's an official placing and then we judge the cards at the end and … we have a winner for each of the age groups.”

Russo said that the competitors are only given six to eight minutes in the show ring depending on the competition rotation.

“The kids have to quickly get out there, look at the animals, figure out how they're going to place them and get their cards marked in a short amount of time,” said Russo. “It can be really challenging because usually we'll have a very obvious top in the class and a very obvious bottom, and then there's always kind of a tie.”

Russo said that sometimes there is an oral class attached to the judging where the competitors have to explain their rankings.

“In those oral reasons classes, often we're looking at their reason above how they placed them. So if they didn't agree with how the judge did, but they can give a good reason why, we look at that,” said Russo. “That teaches kids how to talk on their feet, how to back up their answers … It's very fun because it's not just their opinion, it's how they think, and we like to watch how they're really thinking.”

Warden FFA member Tyson Visker said he enjoyed the judging competition and had previously competed in it.

“It's really fun. I get to be around all my friends,” he said. “It's fun to compete against other people my age.”

Visker said that it was his last year of membership in FFA and that he would be a member longer if it were allowed.

The judging competition is also one of the more accessible 4-H and FFA livestock events at fairs, said Russo.

“I just think it's a great opportunity because not everyone has an animal, so even our kids who may be in the club but don't have the opportunity to bring a live animal to the fair can participate in livestock judging. It's just a great opportunity for kids to experience something different,” Russo said. “And again, if they don't have that animal, they can still work on that youth development piece of public speaking and quick thinking and backing up your ideas.”

Russo also said that the judging competition forces competitors who are showing an animal to shift their focus away from their own animal to other animals.

“Most of them won't know the animals in the ring,” said Russo. “The superintendents and some of the officials of the fairgrounds are the ones who actually pick who's going to be used in…this judging class. And so the kids don't have the emotional connection usually, and they can be thinking totally objectively.”

Much like other 4-H and FFA events, the goal is not just in the event itself, but in what it teaches the competitors, said Russo.

“We're teaching skills for life beyond this activity. So that's what I really love about the judging,” she said.

Gabriel Davis may be reached at gdavis@columbiabasinherald.com. Download the Columbia Basin Herald app on iOS and Android.