FFA Judging Day held at Hamilton

Students from area high schools gathered in Hamilton for the FFA Judging Day.

Evaluation of livestock is an exciting and thought provoking experience. The ultimate goal of livestock judging is to compare your perception of an animal against the IDEAL and then to contrast your opinion with that of another individual or group of individuals. The idea of the perfect animal is constantly changing.

The objectives of judging are 1) Be able to understand the scoring system used in a livestock judging contest and to be able to tabulate your individual scores; 2) Learn to prepare a logical, coherent set of notes that allow you to present an effective set of oral reasons; 3) To present articulate, structured oral reasons; 4) Interpretation of individual performance data and EPD; 5) Recognition and the ability to identify various parts of a live animal and subsequent portions of a carcass; 6) To understand the mechanics of valuation of a market animal; and 7) Develop the confidence to compete in a structured livestock contest.