Should Barley not be fed in the winter???

[SlickTxMaine]

My son attended a progress show this weekend.  The judge asked him about his ration for his steer and when my son mentioned we are adding Barley, the Judge told him that was wrong.  He said you are not supposed to feed Barley in the winter as it makes their finish hard.  Has anyone heard this before??

 

[knabe]

cause fat is so hard to chew?

 

[Okotoks]

Never heard of that. There's an awful lot of cattle in Western Canadian feedlots that are fed barley- winter and summer! A lot of people prefer the flavor of barley fed beef. I'm not sure if that's an aquired taste or if it's just better.
I have heard corn gives a smoother more even cover,maybe someone else knows if that is right.

 

[showsteerdlux]

Never heard of that. There's an awful lot of cattle in Western Canadian feedlots that are fed barley- winter and summer! A lot of people prefer the flavor of barley fed beef. I'm not sure if that's an aquired taste or if it's just better.
I have heard corn gives a smoother more even cover,maybe someone else knows if that is right.

I have always heard that barley will even/smooth out the finish.

 

[SlickTxMaine]

I too have heard that Barley puts on a smoother finish, where corn tends to be more....lumpy, for lack of a better term.  This particular Judge was a strange bird.  During showmanship he mentioned several times that my son could have easily been reserve for showmanship,( but had obviously placed him in third).  When exiting the ring he told my son, "You did a great job with your calf, next time just remember to shave".  He docked him for having a little stubble on his chin!  My son is blonde headed, so you'd have to look real hard to see his peach fuzz (he'll be so mad if he reads this!)!!

 

[LittleHeifer]

We feed a 3cob which is corn barley mollasses mix. I know lots of people around here use barley and never had a problem. That is just an opinion. Who was the judge? Judges, at least from my knowledge, are supposed to listen to you, give advice, but not tell you you are wrong. I've had many judges give me advice but never say I was wrong esp on my ration, esp as rations are a matter of opinion.
Thats bull. That should not matter unless its noticable. He should not say "you could have been reserve" unless he had a legit reason.
Little Heifer (angel)

 

[SlickTxMaine]

This was our small county show, the Judge was a retired ag teacher from another school....not sure of his name.  He will not be judging our show in February.  I guess he had to make a decision between the two, and that is what he chose as the deciding factor.....I just thought it was funny.

 

[cornershack]

i thought "maybe we are all wrong" finish should be firm to the touch not jello to begin with. ? finish too hard that is def a new one!

 

[MCC]

If the calf is doing good and looks good I'd keep feeding the barley. I personally like feeding barley to both cattle and horses.

 

[farmin female]

I too have heard that Barley puts on a smoother finish, where corn tends to be more....lumpy, for lack of a better term.  This particular Judge was a strange bird.  During showmanship he mentioned several times that my son could have easily been reserve for showmanship,( but had obviously placed him in third).  When exiting the ring he told my son, "You did a great job with your calf, next time just remember to shave".  He docked him for having a little stubble on his chin!  My son is blonde headed, so you'd have to look real hard to see his peach fuzz (he'll be so mad if he reads this!)!!

That brings up a whole new topic of how teenage boys that show have a distinct disadvantage over those cute little teenage girls!!!!!  Sometimes it is so obvious its pathetic. 

 

[knabe]

hire more female judges.

 

[SlickTxMaine]

I too have heard that Barley puts on a smoother finish, where corn tends to be more....lumpy, for lack of a better term.  This particular Judge was a strange bird.  During showmanship he mentioned several times that my son could have easily been reserve for showmanship,( but had obviously placed him in third).  When exiting the ring he told my son, "You did a great job with your calf, next time just remember to shave".  He docked him for having a little stubble on his chin!  My son is blonde headed, so you'd have to look real hard to see his peach fuzz (he'll be so mad if he reads this!)!!

That brings up a whole new topic of how teenage boys that show have a distinct disadvantage over those cute little teenage girls!!!!!  Sometimes it is so obvious its pathetic. 

That is very obvious at our small shows!!  If there is a girl showing a steer......she is going to win showmanship.  Last year the judge had a difficult time picking showmanship.....there were no female showman!  This year, the lonely female was picked for grand, and then for reserve, as the judge stated, "it was a toss up between my son and another young man and could have easily gone either way".  I told my son next time he needs to wink at the judge......that did not go over well!!    The females generally just have a better overall presentation when showing IMO. 

 

[texas111]

That is true about barley, but i dont know why not in the winter.  the season should not matter.  corn will give you a soft fat and barley will give you a hard fat.  i lambs somethimes yu eant to add a layer of hard fat instead of doft, so you use barley.  it is the same in every species.  you should feed both.  i am an ag teacher in tx and that is no reason to place your steer that way.  there should be a reason that he placed it there besides the feeding.  maybe your steer did not deposit the soft fat where it needed to and only had a bit of hard fat from the barley.  try to look into the advice not try to find how you could prove the judge wrong.  whats done is done.  learn from it.  you prob needed more soft fat cover in the pins.  I dont know ive never seen or handled your calf.  Just my 2 cents for what its worth.

 

[SlickTxMaine]

That is true about barley, but i dont know why not in the winter.  the season should not matter.  corn will give you a soft fat and barley will give you a hard fat.  i lambs somethimes yu eant to add a layer of hard fat instead of doft, so you use barley.  it is the same in every species.  you should feed both.  i am an ag teacher in tx and that is no reason to place your steer that way.  there should be a reason that he placed it there besides the feeding.  maybe your steer did not deposit the soft fat where it needed to and only had a bit of hard fat from the barley.  try to look into the advice not try to find how you could prove the judge wrong.  whats done is done.  learn from it.  you prob needed more soft fat cover in the pins.  I dont know ive never seen or handled your calf.  Just my 2 cents for what its worth.

This was only a showmanship show......the calf was not placed, just my son basically.  I was not trying to prove the Judge wrong, this is only our third year showing steers, and I want to learn all I can.  If I'm doing something wrong I'd like to correct it.  Did you by any chance judge a small FFA show this past Saturday morning? 

 

[texas111]

No, I did not judge any shows this year or last.  If your son needed to shave that sounds like your fault for letting him look like an ungroomed ragamuffin.  Showmanship is all about the showman.  Appearance is important in showmanship.  You wouldnt wan to walk out in the ring with your shirt untucked and wrinkled and a pair of dirty pants on. So why would you go in the ring needing a shave?  Doesnt make sense to me.  Exhibitors do all they can to make their projects shine and look their best, why skimp on your appearance?  Dont be angry with the judge fix your problem.  Learn from your mistakes.  Dont be so hard headed to think that you did everything correctly because with your own admittance you did not.  Your son didnt even shave, what else didnt yall do.  Quit being so defensive and learn from your mistakes.

 

[SlickTxMaine]

No, I did not judge any shows this year or last.  If your son needed to shave that sounds like your fault for letting him look like an ungroomed ragamuffin.  Showmanship is all about the showman.  Appearance is important in showmanship.  You wouldnt wan to walk out in the ring with your shirt untucked and wrinkled and a pair of dirty pants on. So why would you go in the ring needing a shave?  Doesnt make sense to me.  Exhibitors do all they can to make their projects shine and look their best, why skimp on your appearance?  Dont be angry with the judge fix your problem.  Learn from your mistakes.  Dont be so hard headed to think that you did everything correctly because with your own admittance you did not.  Your son didnt even shave, what else didnt yall do.  Quit being so defensive and learn from your mistakes.

Uh, I think you are the one being defensive.  I started this topic for help.  I thought it funny about the shaving....of course you'd have to see my son's peach fuzz to understand why I thought it was humurous.  It's one man's decision on a given day, I accept that.  We have moved on, we are not angry with the judge.  I had never heard that about barley, and wanted more info.  The whole tone of your last post is pissy.  I don't get into confrontations with anyone one here....just here to learn.  Good bye.

 

[PaFFA Proud]

IMO I dont think a judge should tell a person how they should look..a beard to some is a religion issue(here in PA we have mennonite and amish show)...whats next every body should be blonde(no offense to yall blondes).a person showing should be in well fitting clean clothes, dark jeans, no hats, a good show stick and scotch comb. I do agree that judges do go for the pretty teenage girls with good bodies..the overweight girls get knocked down also in showmanship. Also Texas 111, I dont think you have the right to drag someone down as a mother..ur not in her shoes nor do you know her son and he has every god given american right to have his facial hair anyway he pleases...I dont see how that makes him lesser of a showman. So dont judge people until u have seen them and even then u dont know the situation.

I think with the feed issue is all a matter of opinion and also individial animals may need a certian grains at certian times. So if you think your animal is looking good and you have had someone with experience told you to feed barley so by all means feed barley. I personally hate that jiggly finish on show animals. <beer>

 

[texas111]

I wasnt trying to judge or be offensive it just seemed like you were upset that you son didnt do well and it was someone elses fault.  I feel that you should be allowed to look anyway you want.  if you want to do well you should be well groomed, as should your animal.  i may have been alittle too blunt and rude.  for that i am sorry.  i am tired of people passing the buck wen they do not win.  i feel that if you aregoing to bath your animal you should be bathed.  if you are gong to brush your animals hair then yours should be brushed.  the show is showmanship.  its all about the individual.  so common sense should tell you that you should look nice when entering the ring for showmanship.  you spend alot of time grooming and fitting your animal why not spend sometine on yourself.  not judging. have you ever seen an ungroomed person on centerstage trying to win somthing?  you prob dont want that person to be setting examples of how to look for the youth.  this prob had alot of play in the decision.  you nevr see ungroomed people in the spotlight.  just a fact of lofe.  im not trying to be rude but it is just common sense.  im sure the peach fuzz was cute to you because he is your son.  think of how it looks to others.  it does not matter what others think of you, but when you are trying to excell in showmanship or anything else for that matter you might want to shave and look appropriate for what you are doing.  i know you need help.  thats why i posted about the corn and barley.  i was trying to help.  if you feed barley it puts on hard fat and if you feed corn it puts on soft fat.  you need to experiment and see what works for your calf.  different animals finish differently.  start with a 2 to 5 ratio of barley to corn.  adjust after that to fit your animal.  dont feed too much barley it somtimes gives tem intestinal issues.  best of luck to you and have your son shave before entering the ring.  im sure he will do well.  please dont take offense to my comments.  im trying to help.  in a blunt way i guess.

 

[cornershack]

Well, Texas111, being a teacher, you of all people should have taken a more diplomatic approach.  it seemed to me that you were being a bit over the top. geeze critisize the mom for her sons actions, i agree he should have looked his best, but far be it for mom to take the final responsibility. anyone who mentors teens, and you being a teacher knows they do not always take your advice to heart.  she was asking a question about barley and threw in the fact that her son was placed third because of his fuzz.