XENIA – Individuals who participate in showmanship competitions are generally judged by someone else. However, in the General Livestock Judging competition, young fairgoers had the opportunity to practice the judging of show animals themselves.
Cows, goats and hogs were shown to participants, and they were able to judge each animal as if it were a show, then were given five questions to answer about the group of animals respectivly. Judging was worth 50 points, while the five questions were worth 10 points each. Top five winners were selected from the junior, intermediate and senior category.
General Livestock Judging Official Megan Mooreman said participating in such a contest can allow them to grasp a better understanding of the animal industry.
“I’ve already placed my officials, so now the kids are placing the animals how they think they should be placed … The winner is based on who places it correctly and there’s questions to go along with it too. Whoever places it closest to mine and answers the most questions correctly wins,” Mooreman said. “It’s all about learning what good stock looks like. They’ve been raising their animals, but it’s also important to know livestock selection.”
Mooreman, a Greene County native, will work as high school agriculture teacher at Westfield in the upcoming school year, and is an familiar with the Greene County Fair. She graduated from the Ohio State University in 2013, and has experience on its livestock judging team.
“It goes around a lot,” she said. “Also being able to interpret the questions. There’s a lot of decision-making skills that go into it.”
Junior winners, aged between 8 and 11 years old, included Luisa Christian of Prime Producers; Zanden Ivey of Fun Bunch; Gunner Gannon of Kreative Kids; Molly Moosing of Prime Producers and Ciara Horney of Greene Acres.
Intermediate Winners, aged between 12 and 14 years old, included Kayla Horney or Greene Acres; Grace Smith of Family Traditions; Audrey Waymire of Prime Producers; Nick Shaw of Buc-a-Roo and Eva Sheridan of Greene Acres.
Senior winners, aged between 15 and 18 years old, included Drew Waymire of Prime Producers; Brevin Henninger of Creative Christian Clovers; Dylan Evoniuk of Husky Hustlers; Brooke Anderson of Greene Acres and Emma Horney of Greene Acres.
“There’s a lot that goes into it and they can become judges themselves,” Mooreman said. “It also helps them to bring it back to their own farm because once they learn those skills, it helps them select better animals and help to expand their herds and make them better all around.”