Livestock Judging: A Powerful Skill

Why is the 4-H Livestock Judging Program important to Texas?

A senior in high school sits in English class.  He confidently scans the room, making eye contact with girls and cracking jokes.  As a captain of the football team he lifts weights, drives a strong 1967 Chevelle, and just broke up with the cheerleading captain.  Life was good until the teacher asked him to stand and read from Macbeth.   He could feel his confidence folding like a lawn chair, with his voice cracking and sweaty hands shaking, he labored over the words.  His peers looked down trying not to watch the all too slow car wreck in public speaking.  I am told this was a socially disastrous and positively humbling experience.

“Think outside the box” we are told as 4-H Extension professionals.  We need to get out find new audiences and start innovative cutting edge programs.  That is all well and good, but I say we need to jump back in the box.  What is wrong with the box anyway?  Many times the box contains items (activities and programs) that are time-tested, valuable experiences.  Livestock judging is firmly placed in the box and hopefully it never comes out.

Research literature is littered with studies that have investigated the profound impact that the livestock judging program has made on the life skills and career development of youth.  Rusk (2002) evaluated the attributes of Indiana’s 4-H Livestock Judging Program.  The study cultivated several attributes; ability to verbally defend a position, livestock industry knowledge, oral communication, and decision making.  Add in skills in career development and interviewing and we can about cover the scope of what most of the literature indicates.  Maybe research is not your thing, to you I propose repetition.  Livestock judging systematically places students in situations where he/she has to make decisions and defend them to a reasons taker.  The professionally dressed student walks into a room and delivers a well thought out set of reasons to a stranger.  The development of this skill will help prepare the students for the most important set of oral reasons in his/her life; the job interview.

Look at the news lately?  Animal Agriculture is under attack and taking a constant beating from the media.  The critical need for articulate youth that can defend the positions of Agriculture has never been greater.  There is no better training ground for these kids than the 4-H livestock judging program.  A program with no flashing lights, video game atmosphere or innovative visions, just sound fundamental principles for developing youth into successful members of society.  See, sometimes it is nice in the box.

As for the falsely confident kid in English class, he judged livestock and has a job in Agriculture somewhere in Texas.  I, I mean he is still nervous when speaking to a group of people, however through lessons learned in livestock judging, can channel the nervousness into enthusiasm and energy.  Thank goodness for the 4-H Livestock Judging program.

Reference       

Rusk, C. P., Martin, C. A., Talbert, B. A., & Balshweid, M. A. (2002). Attributes of Indiana's 4- H livestock judging program. Journal of Extension [On-line], 40(2). Available at: http://www.joe.org/joe/2002april/rb5.html