County Fair Judges

[mainecattlemother]

I know this sounds like we are being cry babies but we just found out who are county fair judge is. He is President of the North American South Devon Association and the people that show Devon's in our county show some of his cattle and the rest are direct descendants of this guys cattle. Plus he is also very good buddies with the family that shows Devon cattle. The judge has also had a hang up for us for some time. He hates clubby cattle and we have some club calves and simmentals. Do you feel his judging may be a conflict?

 

[knabe]

who cares.  it's a county show.  just be positive.  maybe even thank him after the show for such a nice job.

learn to play the game.

 

[mainecattlemother]

Excuse me, but you have no idea of the politics in our county. Yes, it's about having fun but we have two very competitive animals that have won a couple shows already but this judge will give our cattle red ribbons and we will not be able to attend our state fair. Again, like I mentioned, our county is very political. I just wanted an opinion about a judge that is judging his own cattle not a bash me session.

 

[DLD]

Doesn't sound like it's right, but the question is what can you do?  Who selects the judges?  Here our fair board makes the final selection for the fall fair,  and the stock show committee makes the decision for the spring stock show.  In theory, the ag teachers and county agent put together a ranked list of suggested judges, and usually the boards follow their recommendations, at least somewhat.  On occasion though, some board member will push someone through on their own agenda.  We finally learned that enough calls from enough people to those other board members can get that changed.  If the judge is as unfair a choice as you suspect, then surely others in your county will feel the same way - talk to them, and to the powers that be, and see what you can get done.  Even if it doesn't get it done this year, maybe it'll help avoid such issues in the future.  If he does end up judging, all you can do is chin up and make the best of it.  I'm sure glad we don't have a situation like yours where a county judge makes the decision about whether you get to go to the state fair or not - it would surely just magnify the politics involved.

And I will add this - it often turns out that we get along a lot better than I expected under some of the judges I dread the most, and vice versa.  Maybe it won't be as bad as you think.

 

[DLD]

who cares.  it's a county show.  just be positive.  maybe even thank him after the show for such a nice job.

learn to play the game.

I try to thank every judge we show under for coming to judge the show.  I'll only thank them for such a nice job if I believe they did one. 

 

[aj]

I think that if you were to start a class action lawsuit against every judge who judged a cattle show you could sue em for millions of dollars. I also think a blue ribbon commision study should be put together by the house of representitves to pursue this matter.

 

[knabe]

Wait. You are bashing the judge but don't want to be bashed?

There's your problem.  Too easy.

 

[BTDT]

Politics are at every show and with every human being. Deal with it or get out of the show ring. I do not like it any more than you do, but, it is hard to hire a judge that knows "everything about cattle", yet knows no one IN cattle. That is the nature of the cattle business.

I think a show manager should do everything possible to hire a judge that has no connections to any of the possible entries.  It is really hard to do, with travel costing money, with limited show budgets, and the time it takes to research people that "no one knows". Possible, but tough to do.

If YOU were to select a judge, I am fairly confident that you would look for someone that "knows Simmentals and clubbies" and then the devon people would be complaining and crying foul.

Problem now is: If you do well, and the judge actually places you well, people will wonder how much it took to pay him off. Poor judge doesn't have much of a choice now does he?

Some advice from an oldie: Show to the best of your ability, present your animal the best you can, and be proud of the animal you show. Congratulate the winner. Smile and mean it.  If possible, talk to the judge after the show and ask specifically what you could improve on. Learn.  Do not stomp out of the ring, throw your show stick, curse, leave the ring early, or otherwise make yourself look like an ass.  I have seen "adults" do that and lost any and all respect for them and their cattle operation.

Good luck and enjoy the day.

 

[mainecattlemother]

We have never ever left a show ring early and if we do not win a class my children always congratulate the winner. I think the main problem is the fact that we typically only have four families that show and two are Devon breeders which is fine. I think it's great you have your own breed. We like to play with the Simmi cattle and we raise primarily Simmi-Angus at home but I just don't think someone should judge their own.  The people we know in the cattle industry do not judge so I would be fine with anyone else. We did contact the fairboard because they pay the judge but  the 4-H coordinator lines up the judge. Two of the fairboard members do not want him judging but they need to have a meeting with the fairboard president but I don't think anything will be changed. We rinse twice a day and walk our cattle about 1/2 mile daily so hopefully we have blue ribbon cattle.

 

[ZNT]

Where do you live that a county fair determines if you are able to go to State Fair?  In my experience, the smaller the show, the bigger the politics (or drama), and if the quality of cattle at your State Fair is determined by a bunch of local politics, it sounds like a recipe for disaster.

However it plays out, the sportsmanship you display to your kids and your community will get you a lot further than any ribbon ever will.  Good Luck.

 

[DLD]

Where do you live that a county fair determines if you are able to go to State Fair?  In my experience, the smaller the show, the bigger the politics (or drama), and if the quality of cattle at your State Fair is determined by a bunch of local politics, it sounds like a recipe for disaster.

However it plays out, the sportsmanship you display to your kids and your community will get you a lot further than any ribbon ever will.  Good Luck.

This, for sure.

No one individual should be selecting the judge for a county show, especially where your placing determines whether or not you get to go on to a state fair.  Get together all the exhibitors (not just cattle, but all species) families and go to the fair board and ask them to change the selection process for judges to something where more people get input. 

This time around, just do your best.  As I understand it, when you say red ribbon vs blue ribbon, that's not necessarily 2nd place vs 1st, it just means that what the judge designates as blue ribbon entries are eligible for state, and what he designates as red ribbons aren't?  So even if the Devons beat your Simmies and clubbies for grand, he could still give you blue ribbons so that you could go on?  You might find that he's a better judge and a better person than you're giving him credit for...

 

[shortyjock89]

Minnesota has a rule like that. A family that has won the state fair steer show multiple times nearly missed out on the state fair last yer because of a biased judge.

 

[GandL125]

A lot of politics go on at a great number of county fairs. I know of one that has the fair board's kids (or girlfriends, boyfriends, best friends etc) only win the livestock and pageant shows. Same people on the fair board make ALL of the committees for the fair. They do not out source their judges, they pick a good ol' boy from the local friend pool. Small county yes but it is Good Ol Boy banded so strong nobody will nor can step in to rescue it. The STATE fair board/committee has had SEVERAL complaints about this fair but nothing has been done. Parents won't let their kids show or be in any pageants there so the fair puts advertising and news articles in the papers begging for contestants but you already know who's going to win.

 

[rackranch]

Sounds to me like you or someone in your family has rubbed the person in charge wrong.  Only four families in your show and two of them show the type cattle the judge breeds. A rare breed at that.  Someone is trying to prove a point at your expense.

I need the Paul Harvey story!!

 

[Jeferin]

It sucks and it's tough but we had what your fearing happen to us last year and to another person in our county a couple of years ago as my son's steer beat there' steer. Not even close if you ask me but, he just didn't care for there type of cattle.

 

[Tallcool1]

You know what, I understand what several of you are trying to say on this thread.  We all know that there are politics in the show ring and that IS the nature of the beast.  I agree with that and it is what it is.

How about a little compassion for this family?  I know we can't change it for them, but really! 

We don't live in Minnesota so we don't have the problem that they have.  We can take our best steer to the County Fair, the judge can place him last in class, we can take him home and hair him up and he can win our State Fair.  We don't have to qualify to go to our State Fair.

Pull up mainecattlemother's posts on her profile, and take a look at the Market Heifer that they are shooting at the Minnesota State Fair.  Now get yourself a visual of her with another 1 1/2 inches of hair, and imagine that heifer not even getting to go to the State Fair.

I don't have the answer for you BUT, my answer is NOT for you to get used to it or for you to suck it up or Quit Showing if you can't take it. 

I just hope for your sake that you sent DNA to AkSarBen on that heifer.

My other piece of advice would be for you to foam her body hair LIBERALLY when you fit her, and fit her REALLY tight.  Get a LOT of Final Bloom in her, and blow and blow and blow.  Get a lot of shine on her...all the shine you can get.  Don't build her legs with 8 layers of paint and glue.  Give the judge the "impression" that she does not have as much hair as she does, and make her look as little like a Show Heifer as you can.  I guess what I am saying is just get her through to the next level...if he doesn't like "clubby" cattle, then whatever you do, don't make her look any more clubby than you can help!

Good luck, and do your best.

 

[paj315]

I've come to realize that no matter where you go or what the show is someone that you are going to show against will know the judge. Most judges are professional enough to judge the cattle not the owners, however there are always exceptions . The show we were at yesterday the judge was the cousin of one of the families we showed against and they had a good day. That being said they had some really good cattle. As a parent we tend to get pretty worked up about who the judge is and who they are friends with or related to. Yesterday as I was complaining to my wife about it my son walked by and started talking about how well his heifer showed and how he was glad we got to show this weekend because he needed the practice before our county and state fair. After that I realized that sometimes we as parents get too involved in whats going on at the shows and the politics that are involved . Its always fun to win but in the end what are we teaching our kids if winning is all we talk about. Even though we didn't win anything this weekend it was a huge success because of the practice and experience my son gained and even more important than that the friends we made that will last a lot longer than a ribbon or trophy.

 

[mainecattlemother]

Thank you for all your posts. We definitely see what you all are saying. The part we have trouble with is with such small numbers we have a very good chance of getting red ribbons. We have seen him judge many shows and he is very political. Cattle showing is very much a hobby of our families and has built some lasting memories but we also want to start making a small income from it by selling a few calves and getting to state fair may help that.

We are also starting an open class show at our county fair titled Showin for a Cause with a portion of the proceeds going to Susan G. Komen of MN to support breast cancer. Our local vets assistant was diagnosed last fall and we are donating in her honor, so we are very dedicated to cattle showing and want others nearby to enjoy it as much as we do.

 

[BTDT]

Good luck and do not get discouraged.  Is it possible for you to enter a fair in a neighboring county? Maybe next year, go to another county. Youth programs are financed via the number of youth participating, so if your family and other families leave, either change will take place, or the program does not survive.

Thank you for having a fund raising event for breast cancer. Seems like your family knows what is important. Ribbon color is (sometimes) pretty irrelevant!

Please let us know how it goes.

 

[CAB]

Somewhere here there needs to be some work done in trying to get the rules changed as far as needing to qualify through your county fair to show @ your State Fair. The way numbers are falling I would think that addressing that problem should be fairly easy to get changed.
  Everyone that has shown a little throughout their lifetime knows that the place that is easiest for the upset is close to home @ your local county fair and who knows possibly some of the judges that judge these smaller county fairs have a better grip on what kind of cattle actually work in the real world. I know that I am personally impressed with the "Gentle Giants". You have to admire the depth of rib and maternal abilities in general of the South Devon cattle. There is definitely a place for those type of cows in the real world. Possibly we club calf producers could use a shot of reality. JMO.