Opinion: Do you think a heifer weighing 700lbs should be able to win Supreme

My kids haven't been showing heifers for very long so what my family watched/experienced this past weekend that puzzled me and might happen more often than I realize. This past weekend I watched two very young heifers that might have weighed 700 lbs beat some very high quality heifers that have done very well on the national level.  In your opinion, should a young heifer be able to beat good quality mature heifers/pregnant heifers?  ( I understand if the breed heifers can't move at all and have very little going for them).    In my opinion , I don't think this should happen for many reasons.  One is they are overpowered.  Secondly, I think there are too many questions regarding young heifers.  One doesn't know how a young heifer will develop once it really starts growing and putting on a lot of weight, how it will travel once it becomes pregnant, etc.         

It seems like this last year that it has happened quite often ,went to State fair in one breed and the 4 Champions were all 5-6 month old champions .....We need judges that have shown ,been around cattle and had some practical experience ....Some of these young judges just coming off of
education and proably done well , but in most jobs with college kids if they don't have experience ,they start at a lower position and work up ....

I have never understood why in US mature cows do not win shows. To me you can see what exactly they produce. I don't understand how a 6 month old heifer beats mature females. I am not a judge though. I could see it when they excel structurally etc but when a mature cow has it all and they use a  junior heifer calf for supremes it stumps me. I notice in Canada they do use mature cows for champions as well as some of the shows in South America.

Depends on the quality of the heifers!

OH Breeder said:

I have never understood why in US mature cows do not win shows. To me you can see what exactly they produce. I don't understand how a 6 month old heifer beats mature females. I am not a judge though. I could see it when they excel structurally etc but when a mature cow has it all and they use a  junior heifer calf for supremes it stumps me. I notice in Canada they do use mature cows for champions as well as some of the shows in South America.

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Also in Australia it is rare that a heifer will win over a good cow with a calf. As they say the proof is in the pudding the cow has been there done that and there is the proof. A heifer winning is usually followed by the judge saying she will make a great cow. Well maybe but it is an unknown. That statement is one of my pet peeves.

Absolutely!

I don't feel a mature heifer or even a bred heifer as proven anything more about production than the younger ones.  I don't put much praise on the ability to conceive- that should be implicit.  I agree, there are too many questions regarding young heifers- One doesn't know how a heifer of ANY age will develop.  That's why it makes since for the pairs to be winning.

On a side note, "power" isn't an adjective I'd ever use to describe ideal females. Maybe thats just me.

Just because there big and grown out doesnt mean theyre good. A good one is a good one 400 pounds or 1400 pounds. If a heifer makes my jaw drop at 700 pounds and i cant stop looking at her and cant find a whole in her then I will pick her. I dont like judges that wont do that. a good one is a good one pick her. weight nore breed matters

There's a lot of speculation going on during any show and any given class, and that includes cow/calf pairs. Somebody with a commercial background will definitely be thinking about, "What would she look like without a feed bucket in front of her all the time?" When you judge a show, you have to make those kinds of decisions, and hopefully a judge can back up his or her decisions based on sound judgement and critical decision making. If we just lined em up by age or weight, we wouldn't need a judge in the first place.

When you think Supreme champion, you think best female in the sense that they should be a good "cow", and be able to produce, well, maybe that judge thought the best female is the prettiest, most well put together animal, and a lot of the times a calf can look perfect, whereas when they grow up, you can start to see more flaws.  Does that mean that that calf is going to produce a better calf than that cow standing next to her in the grand champion drive? No.  And in the end, in showing livestock, it all comes down to one man's opinion.

On another note, I have noticed that it seems to happen a lot less in Canada.  I remember last year at Agribition, under an American judge, in both the Horned and Polled Hereford shows, it was a calf and bred that took Grand and Reserve.  But this year, I think ever breed's Grand Champion female was a cow/calf pair, with the exception of the Limos.  Depending on the area, you are going to see different animals winning.  So I wouldn't focus too much on that.