Penn State's Livestock Judging Team Second High In Judging at All-East Livestock Contest
Posted: Apr 23, 2009
Penn State's Livestock Judging Team competed in judging, animal selection and animal evaluation contests as part of the three-day event.
Back, from left: Amanda Gipe(assistant coach), Travis Book, Dustin Brown, Adam Wise, David Nogan; Front, from left: Katlyn Tice, Danielle Maines, Kristina McAllister, Johanna Rohrer, Shenna Kubeja, Sally Oakes
Penn State's livestock judging team placed second overall in the judging portion of the three-day All-East Livestock Selection and Evaluation Contest hosted last week by Ohio State University, Columbus, OH. They were the high team in sheep, second high team in beef, third in oral reasons and fourth in swine in the judging portion of the contest which included 12 classes of sheep, swine and sheep, plus oral reasons. Teams from seven universities competed.
Johanna Rohrer, Manheim, was second high individual overall in the judging contest, and was high individual in swine, second in sheep, and sixth in reasons.
The Penn State team also evaluated sheep, swine and cattle in the market animal evaluation and animal selection portion. In the Selection Contest, the team placed fourth overall, placing second in beef, third in swine and fifth in sheep. Travis Book, New Castle, was high individual in swine.
The team placed fifth overall in the Evaluation Contest, with David Nogan, Jermyn, being seventh high individual.
Dr. Terry Etherton, Head of the Department of Dairy and Animal Science, said, "This judging contest is great because it challenges students to demonstrate their knowledge in a practical way, make decisions and then present their decisions to a judge. I congratulate the team members for their outstanding showing. It is a tribute to their hard work and expertise that they competed so well in a very challenging event."
Team members were Dustin Brown,Tyrone; Book; Shenna Kubeja, Springboro; Danielle Maines, Clearfield; Kristina McAllister, Petersburg; Nogan; Sally Oakes, Jackson Center; Rohrer; Katlyn Tice, State College; and Adam Wise, Punxsutawney. The team was coached by Beef Cattle Manager Wendall Landis and Assistant Coach Amanda Gipe, a doctoral candidate.
Other individual placings include: Selection Contest: Kubeja, fourth beef; McAllister, sixth beef and ninth swine; Rohrer, seventh swine. Judging Contest: Brown, sixth beef; Kubeja, ninth beef and swine, and fifth overall; McAllister, fifth sheep; Book, sixth sheep; and, Maines, tenth overall.
During the three day competition, students competed on their ability to assess carcass merit and value of market cattle, sheep and hogs, estimate muscle mass, fat thickness and USDA Yield and Quality grades. Their understanding of genetic evaluation data and visual observation were tested, along with the ability to provide complete performance data through answering a set of questions and providing oral reasons.
Other participating universities were: Michigan State University, Ohio State University, Purdue University, University of Illinois, Virginia Tech University and West Virginia University.