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Livestock Judging

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The North Dakota 4-H livestock judging contest provides an opportunity for youth enrolled in 4-H livestock projects to enhance their livestock evaluation and selection skills. Additionally, a judging contest improves their communication and decision-making skills, giving them invaluable life skills toward career development. The purpose of the 4-H livestock judging contest is to teach youth how to evaluate livestock and how to make and defend their decisions. Participants will judge classes that include beef cattle, boer goats, sheep and swine. Seniors then will answer questions from a class to evaluate their thought processes and knowledge of the species judged. Participants then will prepare sets of oral reasons and meet one-on-one with an official to describe the reasons for their class placement. Competition in livestock judging fosters self-confidence, organization, critical thinking, teamwork skills and oral communication skills. Just as important, this contest advances their knowledge of the livestock industry. This contest provides an educational program for all project members, including those who may not own a project animal.

The winning 4-H senior team will have a choice to represent North Dakota at the national 4-H livestock judging contest at the North American International Livestock Exposition (NAILE) in Louisville, Ky., in November or the Western National Roundup in Denver, Colo. The second-place team has the option to compete at the Western National Roundup in Denver and still compete next year at the state level to qualify for NAILE.

Objectives and Outcomes:

Stimulate learning in animal science and agricultural industry
Have youth develop positive interests and attitudes about animal science and related careers
Have youth gain a base of knowledge of animal science projects
Have youth utilize skills and abilities to solve everyday situations
Reward 4-H members for knowledge gained in a subject matter area
Allow youth to gain valuable producer experience
Provide a competitive setting in which attitudes of friendliness and fairnessprevail
Allow participants to process information, analyze complex problems and make informed decisions regarding current agricultural, environmental, livestock, producer decisions and industry issues
Have youth develop teamwork, self-confidence, public speaking and decision-making skills
Have participants seek higher education opportunities and careers related to animal science

Remote video URL

Age Divisions

Each age division is considered a separate contest and youth may enter one of the following divisions:

Junior 4-H division: Youth ages 8 to 13 and enrolled in North Dakota 4-H as full-time 4-H members (not a short-term member) as of Dec. 31
Senior 4-H division: Youth ages 14 to 18 on Dec. 31, and enrolled in North Dakota 4-H as full-time 4-H members (not a short-term member)
Open division: Participants ages 8 to 18 not eligible for 4-H divisions. 4-H/FFA dual members choosing to only judge in the state FFA livestock judging contest this year may enter this division. Individuals from another state are welcome to enter this division.

The senior first-place team overall will represent North Dakota at the national 4-H livestock judging contest held in conjunction with the North American International Livestock Exposition (NAILE) in Louisville, Ky. The first-place team is awarded $1,000 from the North Dakota 4-H Foundation to help with travel expenses. The second-place senior team overall has the option to represent North Dakota at the Western National Roundup 4-H livestock judging contest in Denver, Colo. The second-place team is not awarded funding for travel expenses at this time. Contestants must already have passed their 14th birthday and may not have reached their 19th birthday as of Jan. 1 of the year in which the national 4-H competitive event is held. However, the state 4-H leader may grant a special authorization to compete for youth with developmental disabilities who exceed the upper age limit.

To request funding for the national 4-H livestock judging contest: The Extension agent in the county of the representative team will need to write a formal letter to the North Dakota 4-H Foundation director, Penny Dale, (penny.dale@ndsu.edu) and copy the state 4-H animal science specialist at LeighAnn.Skurupey@ndsu.edu on the email as well. Request funds for $1,000. Include: who the 4-H Foundation should write the check to, where to mail the check, the names of those competing on the team, and the name and date of the national event. County agents and coaches are responsible for determining the age and member eligibility of participants in the state 4-H livestock judging contest from their respective clubs.

Who May Enter

Contestants must be enrolled in North Dakota 4-H (4honline) as a full-time member in the county they represent. Short-term 4-H members are not eligible to compete at the state level.
Counties may enter any number of participates in either age division. The high three individual scores will determine the team score.
All participants are eligible for individual awards.
Counties may combine to form a team, provided neither county has more than two participants. Combination teams must preregister together for the appropriate age group. A team of three may not pick up a fourth member from another county.
- Both counties and coaches from the different teams must approve combining of individuals for a team.
While the contest is in progress (including reasons), no conferring shall occur among contestants or anyone else other than the contest superintendents, group leaders or their representative. Fifty points will be deducted from the total score for each talking infraction reported.
Individuals with disabilities are invited to request reasonable accommodations to participate in NDSU-sponsored programs and events. To request accommodations, please contact Holly Halvorson at 701-231-7251 or Holly.Halvorson@ndsu.edu by Feb. 24 to make arrangements.
4-H members are not eligible for this contest if:
- They have judged at the national 4-H livestock judging contest in Louisville.
- They have participated in official post-secondary (university, college, junior college or technical school) competitive events of a similar nature in the same subject matter area. Neither can they be members of a post-secondary team undergoing training in preparation for an event.

Registration
Please preregister online at JudgingCard.com

Changes and substitutions may be made at registration on the day of the contest.
To register, use your North Dakota county 4-H number and “ND” as your username and password. Example” If my county number is 7777, I would put ND7777 for the username and ND7777 for the password. County numbers are listed on the last page of this document.
The deadline for the winning state 4-H livestock judging team to decide to go to nationals: July 1

Sections

Dress Code

Participants shall follow the 4-H dress code: 4-H members must be dressed neatly and wear a solid white, yellow, gray or green shirt with the 4-H emblem on the front. County names or other affiliation should not be worn at the state contest to avoid bias. The clover may be imprinted, screened or attached with an adhesive (if clovers are pinned to the shirt, use multiple pins and place pins discreetly underneath the chevron). Failure to comply will result in the deduction of 50 points from the individual or team score. 4-H members are asked to stay in official dress until completion of awards.

Contest Guidelines

Rules of the national 4-H contest in Louisville will apply. Local managers may modify rules and procedures as needed to conduct the event in the allowed time.

No electronic devices (phones, tablets, computers, etc.) will be allowed during the contest.
Twelve minutes will be provided to judge each class.
Scantrons will be used for the entire contest, judging and questions.
Contestants must bring their own No. 2 pencils, clipboards or judging books.
Participants are responsible for ensuring their scantron is filled out properly. This includes:
- Erased bubbles on the scantron are erased well so the scanner does not pick up a double-marked answer.
- Scantron bubbles are filled in neatly and dark enough for the scanner to read the bubble correctly.
- Scantrons will not be evaluated or checked for inaccuracy do to the error of the contestant.
- Please make sure to double-check scantrons before they are handed in. Once they are handed in, they will not be returned for any reason.
Oral reasons will have a two-minute time limit. Contestants should not have paper, cards or notes to assist while giving reasons.

Contest Rules

Juniors – will judge six classes of livestock and give three sets of reasons.

Seniors – will judge nine to 10 classes of livestock with three sets of reasons and a question class.

The question class will be given when all contestants are seated in the reasons holding room. Absolutely no notes are allowed to be utilized. If caught, 50 points will be deducted from your score.
Performance data may be provided on some classes.
One class of 10 questions will be given.

Judging Phase – 50 points per class

The contest will consist of any or all of the following placing classes: breeding cattle, market cattle, breeding sheep, market lambs, breeding hogs, market hogs, meat goats or breeding does. A minimum of 12 minutes will be allowed for contestants to judge each class.

Reasons Phase – 50 points per set

Two minutes are allowed for oral reasons. Contestants should not have paper, cards or notes to assist while giving reasons. Reading notes to a reasons taker will result in a score no higher than 25 points. Reasons are evaluated on content, accuracy, emphasis, completeness, terminology and presentation.

Questions Phase – 50 points total

For seniors only. Ten questions will be asked. No notes are to be utilized to answer the questions. Participants will have five minutes to look over their notes before they are asked to put them away. Questions will be asked twice and repeated if necessary. Incorrect answers will have 3 points deducted from the possible 50 points.

Tie Breaking
All ties overall, individual and team, will be broken using the following sequence:

Team Score (for team ties only)
Reasons scores overall
Judging scores overall
For Seniors – Questions scores overall

Species classes will be ranked prior to the start of the contest to serve as the final tiebreaker.

Ties within any phase are to be broken using the overall score first and then the same sequence as above.

County Codes

4001 Adams	4030 Morton
4002 Barnes	4031 Mountrail
4003 Benson	4032 Nelson
4004 Ft. Berthold	4033 Oliver
4005 Bottineau	4034 Pembina
4006 Bowman	4035 Pierce
4007 Burke	4036 Ramsey
4008 Burleigh	4037 Ransom
4009 Cass	4038 Renville
4010 Cavalier	4039 Richland
4011 Dickey	4040 Rolette
4012 Divide	4041 Sargent
4013 Dunn	4042 Sheridan
4014 Eddy	4043 Sioux
4015 Emmons	4044 Slope
4016 Foster	4045 Stark-Billings
4017 Golden Valley	4046 Steele
4018 Grand Forks	4047 Stutsman
4019 Grant	4048 Towner
4020 Griggs	4049 Traill
4021 Hettinger	4050 Walsh
4022 Kidder	4051 Ward
4023 LaMoure	4052 Wells
4024 Logan	4053 Williams
4025 McHenry
4026 McIntosh
4027 McKenzie
4028 McLean
4029 Mercer

Guides

Resources

OSU Extension Youth Livestock Judging Materials
Iowa State University 4-H Youth Extension
LivestockJudging.com
- Subscription based website that you pay for different levels of access to but the good news is that there are also some free resources on the site as well. There are 10 free practice classes you can access.
The Judging Connection
- The judging connection website is a free resource maintained by Ryan Harrell. It features a monthly newsletter as well as a monthly judging class where you can submit your placings via email. The following month, the official placings as well as the cuts and a set of reasons for the class are posted. It also has a virtual library with many links to judging resources and online practice classes.
YouTube: YouTube offers practice livestock judging videos varying in quality. Search for terms like “livestock Judging,” “Livestock judging classes,” and “livestock judging practice.”

Livestock Judging

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