Back from U of I

I got in at about 6 from champaign.  Our FFA team won 1st in section and decided to head to state, but once again I did horrible.  I guess their whole style of judging is different.  I don't know why but I scored horribly on the Keep Cull classes (scoring 30 31 and 25.  worst i have ever done).  The placings classes were deccent with a 40 48 and 50.  The 40 kinda makes me mad because I know I can do better.

Has anyone else went in the past or did anyone go today?  Does anyone go to Murray or SIU?  How does everyone else do in Livestock judging?  Or Lincoln Land in Springfield IL?  My ag advisor takes me to many, which I am very glad of.  Just tell me about your Livestock judging experiences.

Last year I got 18th at Lincoln Land out of 300.  18th this year out of 400.  Three way tied for 10 at SIU out of 400.  1st out of 50 for section.  Where as last year I got 3rd in section. 

I never would have guessed that I would be the best in our school and let alone the section.  I am excited to see what the next two years hold out for me and how well my sister does in high school. 

I am sorry if I sound like I am braggin because I am by no means great.  If I ever completely win state that will be great, because that is where the competition is and it is tough. 

Here is a link to an online judging contest for all ages.  I did this last year and ended up on bottom.  So all that will please enter before May 15th.  Good luck to all that do.

http://www.showmasterfeeds.com/

Jamie

I have been to that contest many times in the past, but today I didnt go ( I was in class here lol). 

I was third out of 400 at Blackhawk as a Freshman, got top 10 just about everywhere else I judged in high school...just didn't really want to do it in college.  I never did much at State, but I think that they score that stuff really goofy too. 

Sounds like you're pretty dang good.  Do you plan on judging in college?

Good job   (clapping)

I did livestock judging for FFA my junior and senior year of high school. I did pretty well my senior year. I got 8th in individual scores at districts. We were close to making it to state but the rest of my team didn't do so hot.

I did best at angus bulls and market hogs. I don't know how I had any clue what I was doing when I was judging the pigs. We had 2 classes of market pigs and some how I got them right. When I gave my reasons, they were laughing at me because I accidently called their hams "hindquarters" and placed the pigs exactly right.

My team and I made it to state in dairy cattle judging my junior year and it was fun. We did pretty well considering everyone on our team showed beef cattle (and we only had 3 people on the team). 

My worst FFA contest I ever did was horse judging. It's hard to judge non-food animals.

I don't go to Murray or SIU. I go to SEMO though and it's not too far away from those two. We don't have a livestock judging team though. 

Thanks OFS.  Sounds like you guys are good too.  I didn't really plan on judging in college, but I have two more years so I'll see where it takes me.  I really just want to Murray and get my schooling in so I can come home.  LOL  One girl from our school was pretty good and shes got a year to year scholarship deal with Lakeland and they have already said they will take anyone else from our school  so that means me.  It would be a pain though traveling almost every week and doing homework on the road. 

Yep.  I have done the same thing.  I have scored perfect on both sheep and swine classes but yesterday was the first time I had done perfectly on cattle.  I always joke my dad its becasue there is too much pressure on me when I get to that ring. 

What to you mean exactly OFS about the scoring at U of I?  I just think it is hard. I usually don't even look at the animals in the keep cull classes because that was the way I was taught, to go strictly off the epds.  But those are the classes I goofed up, big time.  Also you are going into vet school right?  How is the vet program up there?  Does it just go to pre-vet?

Thanks,

Jamie

I mean that I hardly ever agree with the way that they placed the classes, and the cuts were pretty extreme for me.

I'm not going to be a vet anymore, and I probably won't be here in the fall. I decided I want to be an Ag Teacher, and IL State might be a better choice for me.

The Vet Program here is pretty dang good. Maybe not quite as good as Murray State, but probably not far from it.

Murray is a pretty good small school.  It's about an 1.5 hours from me.  I had lots of friends who went & liked it, including my sister in-law.  In hindsight, I regret not going to Murray.  I won several district steer shows in Murray's arena, when I was younger, & I honestly can't tell you why I didn't go to school at Murray.   

Murray is only an 1.5 from me too, but it just goes to pre-vet.  So I was thinking about going on to UK but if I can just go to U of I and get it all through with I will be good.  My aunt went to murray for a pre-vet and that has been at least 10 years ago and she still gets job offers from all over the country. 

Jamie

showgirl2010 said:

Murray is only an 1.5 from me too, but it just goes to pre-vet.  So I was thinking about going on to UK but if I can just go to U of I and get it all through with I will be good.  My aunt went to murray for a pre-vet and that has been at least 10 years ago and she still gets job offers from all over the country. 

Jamie

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I can tell you this... Murray will be cheaper.  Also, it will all boil down to whether you like a big school in a bigger town OR a smaller school in a smaller town.  I don't know much about U of I or Champaign, but I would assume that it is a totally different world & atmosphere than rural Murray, KY (20 something thousand people) & Murray State.  The whole Murray/Tennessee Martin area is as rural as rural gets, with lots of people into cattle, horses & rodeo (rodeo is pretty big in that area).  U of I probably is a little more "urbanized", but it is also probably more geared toward "show cattle", but I do know that UT Martin (which is a stones throw from Murray) has a summer "fitting camp/clinic" & Murray does host some cattle shows & sales in it's arena.  Anyway, it all depends upon what you like & are more comfortable with & I would recommed visiting both schools for a weekend & see which one you feel most comfortable attending.   

FWIW, a guy I grew up with, is now a Vet in our county.  He went to Murray for pre-Vet & after that transferred to Auburn to finish up.  Matter of fact, most of the Vets in our area went to Murray for pre-Vet & then to Auburn to finish up.   

I guess what I am saying is that I would recommend visiting all the potential schools & gathering as much info as possible before making a decision.  Also, there is absolutely nothing wrong with doing your pre-Vet at one school & then transferring to another school to finish up.  Lots of people do that. 

Anyway, best wishes in making that BIG decision!   

U of I is HUGE 42,000 undergrad students.  It's definitely urban.  Almost everyone here it seems like is from Chicagoland.  I don't want to put my opinions on here to sway you, so PM me if you want to know. 

You would think the cattle program here WOULD be geared for show cattle. Think again. 

I will say that the large animal clinic is really good, and it has kind of become where we go for help first rather than our local vet..but then again, the University is less than an hour from home. 

Look at both, look at expense.  U of I is costing me around 23K/year to go.  That's minus all the other out of pocket stuff, computer, fridge, microwave, and other stuff for the room.

Hubby went to Murray State and has a degree in Ag-Business.  He LOVED the school and would do it again in and instant.  He loved it down there, liked all the professors and really liked that smallness I guess of the school.  I did my undergrad here at U of I and wished that I would have had that smallness.  You tend to get lost in the sea of people here, and that was really different for me (my hs had 380 people in it total).  You can also PM me if you want.

If you were here on a weekday, you should have stopped by to say hi, I could have used a break lol! 

OFS & Barrel Racer pretty much confirmed what I was thinking.  Although kinda shocked that U of I isn't geared more towards show calves.  However, those 2 schools/towns are 2 extremely different environments & it all boils down to which one you feel more comfortable with. 

I think the most important thing in livestock judging is to see and be able t o talk differences. The cattle of 20 years ago are looked at differently then cattle of today and cattle 20 years in the future. Different enviroments sometimes call for different types. I goofed a class of simmental heifers in houston 20 years ago and talked a 48. I still remember the class. It sometimes seems to me to win a contest you have to brainwashed to accept certain types and nothing else. Keep up the good work you guys and gals.

aj said:

I think the most important thing in livestock judging is to see and be able t o talk differences. The cattle of 20 years ago are looked at differently then cattle of today and cattle 20 years in the future. Different enviroments sometimes call for different types. I goofed a class of simmental heifers in houston 20 years ago and talked a 48. I still remember the class. It sometimes seems to me to win a contest you have to brainwashed to accept certain types and nothing else. Keep up the good work you guys and gals.

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Brainwashed...yes somewhat...but I still know what I like is completely different from what they like and place on top.  They want the tallest basically for cattle and sheep or goats and the longest with the biggest ham for the pigs.  That is simple, but it is the keep cull class that I completely messed up at U of I and it is because I went strictly off of the epds and never looked up to pay attention to the cattle.  That is how I was taught though an apparently they went off of the animals themselves.

Jamie

So I got my results in from state, still don't know how i did at Murray.  I did horrible at state the worst i have ever done in my highschool years.  I am almost to scared to mention the score, but here it is 263 out of 400. 

OFS, if you know how they judge their swine or the keep cull classes please tell me because apparently my strategy is not right.

Jamie

if you have the opportunity to judge in college, do it.  it is an experience you should never regret.  the key to being successful at livestock judging is to be trainable.  if you can see livestock, you can compete as long as you remember that it doesn't matter what you like.  a coach that can train you to win a contest will also teach you to better understand livestock.