Aaron Fisher, Youth Livestock and Equine Specialist

As with many other aspects of life, 2020 provided some new obstacles for the State 4-H Livestock and Meat Judging Contests. Due to facility uncertainty, both events were held at the Wilson County Fair in Lebanon on Monday, August 17.

Special appreciation is extended to Quintin Smith and the Wilson County Fair for hosting both of these state 4-H judging contests in such a crazy year.

Livestock Judging Contest

Eleven teams from across Tennessee competed in the livestock judging contest, including Anderson, Bedford, Claiborne, Dyer, Knox, Lincoln, Tipton, Unicoi, Warren, Weakley and Wilson Counties.

Livestock Judging is an activity where youth evaluate live classes of beef cattle, swine, sheep and meat goats, then defend their decision through oral reasons. Youth participating in livestock judging learn animal related skills, but more importantly enhance their communication, decision-making, critical thinking and problem solving skills. This contest consisted of 8 placing classes, 4 sets of oral reasons and 2 sets of questions.

The top 5 overall teams were rounded out by:

• Claiborne County (Chase Reece, Anna Epperson, Eli Mundy and Reece Collins)
• Bedford County (Molly Ralston, Kimber Cook and Allison Davis)
• Anderson County (Isaac Chandler, Avery Chandler and Bonnie Chandler)

The Top 5 Individuals Included:

• Colton Moorehead (Lincoln Co) 
• Eli Mundy (Claiborne Co) 
• Taylor Cantrell (Dyer Co)                          
• Mackenzie Moody (Dyer Co)
• Ella Pollock (Lincoln Co)

This contest would not have been possible without individuals who shared their time, talents and animals with the youth. Animal providers included: Zach Butler, Quintin Smith, Jeff Phillips, Mark Powell and Logan Hickerson. Officials included: Brad Bennett, Matt Crisp, Andy Higgins, Cora Key and Gregg Upchurch. Also, a special thanks is extended to Kyla-Jo Farmer, Abigayle Pollock and members of the UT Livestock Judging Team for all of their work towards the success of the event.

Meat Judging Contest

Special appreciation is extended to Dr. Dwight Loveday for sharing his meat expertise with youth by leading the contest post-retirement.

Participants and teams qualified to compete at the state level by first participating in a regional competition. Three teams from Macon and Rutherford Counties judged wholesale and retail cuts, identified cuts of meat as to species, gave name and type of cuts and recommended method of cooking.

The Rutherford County team comprised of: Jason Benson, Kyle Benson, Haley Ferguson and John Buyrl Neely came away with top honors and will represent Tennessee at the National 4-H Meats Judging Contest in October in Manhattan, Kansas. The team is coached by Cynthia Shirley and Phyllis Ferguson.

Thank you to Tyson Foods and Benton’s Smokey Mountain Country Ham for providing meat products for the classes. Award sponsors of the contest are Tennessee Farmer’s Cooperative, Tennessee Livestock Producers, Lower Middle Tennessee Cattlemans Video Sale, TN Sheep Producers Association, Tennessee Pork Producers Association, the Hardeson/Melton Meat Science Endowment and TAE4- HW. A special thank you to Darrell Ailshie and Todd Jennings for assisting with the contest.

Results for the overall contest and contest divisions are as follows: