Ohio youth interested in everything beef have a reason to get excited: The Ohio Cattlemen’s Association youth development program is set to kick off another season.

The Beef Exhibitor Show Total program recognizes Ohio’s junior beef exhibitors ages 8 to 21 for participation and placings through a series of sanctioned cattle shows that include showmanship competitions, educational contests, leadership opportunities and community service.

Juniors earn points for participation in each sanctioned show and are rewarded at the end-of-season banquet. More than $150,000 worth of prizes, giveaways and scholarships will be awarded.

This year’s theme is “How the BEST was won,” and this year’s season includes the following events:

Exhibitors, who must be Ohio Cattlemen’s Association members, must also be Beef Quality Assurance certified to participate in the BEST program.

Another opportunity includes the Buckeye Breeders Series, which is Ohio’s premier bred, born and raised division of BEST that rewards both exhibitors and breeders for their participation with registered steers and heifers from an Ohio seedstock breeder. This division will have a separate set of points to be accumulated for exhibitors throughout the season.

Stockmanship offering

The BEST program includes the Stockmanship Division to allow exhibitors with or without cattle to showcase their talent outside of the ring by expanding their knowledge of cattle and the industry. This division is sponsored by the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation.

The Stockmanship contests for this year are as follows:

A photography competition is also offered to help BEST exhibitors increase their communication skills. Multiple $1,000 scholarships will be awarded to BEST participants pursuing an agriculture related post-high school degree. These will be awarded based on academics and extracurricular activities for high school juniors and seniors.

OCA and Weaver Leather Livestock will team up to recognize individuals that show exceptional leadership and character no matter their age.

Participants will create their own unique account to make nominations for the BEST program at best.ohiocattle.org. The site will be open for nominations at the beginning of December.

For more information about the BEST program, visit ohiocattle.org/BEST, join the OCA BEST program Facebook group, or contact the OCA office at 614-873-6736.

Source: OCA, which is solely responsible for the information provided and is wholly owned by the source. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset.