You may ask, “What is livestock judging?” According to Montana State University, the definition of livestock judging is, “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 another individual or group.” Sure, this is an accurate response, but I also believe livestock judging is a way to show the knowledge you have accumulated from days spent working hard, studying livestock, and working on your speaking skills. This not only helps you learn about the livestock industry but also helps you expand your speaking skills. Livestock judging also teaches you life skills you will use throughout life.

Soon, the Lewis Cass Livestock Judging team will travel to Nebraska to compete against some of the best teams from across the country. Mr. Plank was asked what his team had to accomplish to earn this trip and he said, “We had to qualify from the state contest which is only something that I have had teams do twice in my ten years as an FFA advisor and Livestock Judging Coach. Indiana is a hotbed for Livestock Judging and showing and usually, if you can make it out of Indiana you have a good shot at doing well at a National Contest. There are a lot of really good teams in our state and some of the best teams I have had in the state livestock judging contest have come up short by a few points. It was really neat to see this team place in the top 10 and earn a National Contest.” Livestock judging is not for the faint of heart and challenges you to always be on your game, ready to compete at the highest level. The livestock judging team learned this when they had to spend lots of early morning and long weekends competing and studying livestock.

Mr. Plank was asked what his goal is for his team and he said, “To win and have fun. It’s a pleasure to be there but everything is more fun when you win.” Senior, McCoy Taylor was asked what he hopes to accomplish in Askarben, NE, and said he hopes to place top ten as a team and top fifteen as an individual. Although this will not be easy, it is possible with hard work and dedication. Mr. Plank was asked how his team has been preparing for nationals and he said, “Just mapping the trip out has been a huge challenge in itself, but that is a lot of preparation that happens on my end. In terms of the team members’ preparation, we have been sharing online judging classes through email and giving sets of reasons. We will really prepare hard in the days leading up to the contest as we will make stops along the way to the contest to judge livestock.”

The Livestock judging team has been preparing and is excited to compete. The team consists of Kinsey Mennen, McCoy Taylor, Matt Minnick, and Lexi Gotshall. Good luck guys! Bring back the win!