TWIN FALLS, Idaho — Members of Idaho FFA's South Magic Valley District met at CSI on Wednesday, Oct. 30 for the district livestock judging contest. But it's more than just looking at cows. FFA members use critical thinking and persuasive speech to analyze and then justifying their determinations
- Idaho FFA's South Magic Valley district includes Buhl, Castleford, Filer, Hansen, Jerome, Kimberly, Lighthouse Christian, Murtaugh, and Twin Falls.
- Contestants had 8 8-minute period to study and rank each group of animals: cattle, sheep, goats, and hogs.
- There are over 6,000 FFA members in Idaho, and 100 FFA Chapters around the state.
(Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)
"I love doing livestock judging or horse judging," Jacob Stombaugh told me towards the end of the livestock judging contest.
Stombaugh from Twin Falls Chapter FFA was one of dozens of teens judging livestock at the CSI Expo Center on Wednesday.
He filled me in on what goes into judging hogs.
"My top pair: very long body, very meaty," Stombaugh said. "I like how he looked, how he walked."
"Then my bottom pai, both look ok, but both are super stout. I think I'd prefer to see more depth on number one and number two," Stombaugh said. "He looked a bit sluggish."
They evaluated sheep, goats, hogs, and cattle, giving them each a rank.
"Sometimes when we talk about livestock evaluation, a lot of people think that it's just us looking at some cows are looking at some pigs," said FFA Advisor Joseph Maxwell.
Maxwell is running the contest, he's also the ag instructor at Kimberly High School. His students spent time in the classroom learning about desirable traits for each species, and what to look for.
"The skills that we really are trying to have students develop and work with them on the decision-making, critical thinking," Maxwell said. "They have to go through. They have to evaluate different traits to learn about those different traits, prioritize different traits, and then make decisions based off that."
After making their decision, they have to defend their reasoning, which is an oral presentation component.
"For my first time, I think it went pretty well," said Filer FFA member Josie Albritton. "There are definitely areas that I can improve. I definitely think I need to work on my reasons a little bit better so that when I get up there, I'm a little less nervous and more in the moment."
"The leadership aspect of what Ag Education does in FFA is second to none," said Twin Falls High School Ag Instructor Blaine Campbell. "In my opinion, these guys are going to be public speakers and leaders and future business owners and probably mayors and city council members and senators."
And while he sees himself working in agricultural aviation one day, Stombaugh says judging livestock has become a habit that's hard to shake.
"Sometimes when you're driving past the farm or something you can't help it, it's a cool thing to point out and just go teach others," Stombaugh said. "But yeah, it's pretty cool."
