When fall break came around at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, I loaded up my car with all my judging stenos and hit the dusty trail for a full day of teaching FFA students how to judge livestock. Although this might not be the ideal start to fall break for most students, it felt good to be giving back to the communities that raised me.

I find that one of the most rewarding parts of being on the collegiate livestock-judging team at UNL is being able to share the knowledge with students back in my hometown area. Some of these FFA youth have no livestock experience, and some have grown up with livestock. Being part of their FFA story is something that I do not take for granted.

It starts in the classroom

The first stop on my trip was at Johnson County Central, where I talked to freshmen and sophomores interested in livestock judging. I find it best to start right in and look at examples of livestock, so the students can visualize what is good and what is bad when evaluating the animals.

The next big thing is to teach them the class logic. My judging coaches taught me that there is a clear winner or a clear last place. Sometimes the class splits into two pairs, and students have a tougher decision between the pairs. But if contestants can see the big things in the class, usually that will save them from the harsh cuts on the class.

Related:Crunch Off brings local ag to classrooms

If any of my readers have judged livestock, it is no secret that oral reasons are the most feared part of the contest. But once the students know what to look for and can prioritize the right traits for breeding and market classes, that is when the creativity can flow.

Once I finished a quick two and a half hours at JCC, I headed to HTRS in Humboldt, Neb., to do the exact same thing with another chapter.

I rounded out my day by traveling to one of my family’s farms to practice on live hogs with my alma mater, Johnson-Brock. Dad and I sorted out different gilts and market hogs to put together some contest indicative classes.

My dad, Michael, also was on the UNL livestock-judging team, and it is always interesting to see the unique ways we sort classes and use different terminology in reasons.

Once we sorted through those classes, I asked the senior division students to give a set of reasons to practice terms that we introduced. However, I was put to the test myself because my dad put me on the spot to give a set of reasons completely from memory. Although I might have been a bit rustier than I was during the season, I think I still had it.

Related:Practical tips for selecting right seed

Headed to Lincoln

Once the students competed, I made sure to keep in touch with the ag advisors and see how the chapters did at the district contest.

Although the junior high students cannot go to state in livestock judging, I am proud of my alma mater’s students for competing well at districts. Emmit Caspers received first place, and Emma Wakulinski received third place.

From JCC, Brynn Weber received seventh place, and Jay Chaudhari received ninth place. These placings landed Johnson-Brock with a second-place team finish and JCC with a third-place team finish.

The junior division participants from JCC had a good day at districts, with Tegan Topp receiving fifth place and A.J. Rautenbach getting eighth place. This allowed the team to get third place and qualify for state.

Although livestock judging is more about learning the livestock industry rather than winning, it is always exciting to see schools from your area representing southeast Nebraska at state conventions. Good luck to the JCC juniors who are headed to the state convention!