A team of four Pennsylvania 4-H members recently competed in dairy judging contests in Scotland and Ireland, placing first at the Clonmel Agricultural Show in Ireland. Team members included Sara Haag, of Berks County; Madelynn Hoffman, of Lancaster County; Morgan Smoker, of Mifflin County; and Ellie Curtis, of Warren County.
The team qualified to represent the United States at the Royal Highland Show in Edinburgh, Scotland, after winning the National 4-H Dairy Cattle Judging Contest at World Dairy Expo, held last October in Madison, Wisconsin. The team was selected from the top-ranking contestants at the Pennsylvania 4-H Dairy Judging Contest in June 2022.
"I did not realize that I would meet three girls who not only would become my friends but practically siblings over this trip," said Hoffman. "To win at Expo and then have the opportunity to judge on an international level is a spectacular experience."
Chad Dechow, associate professor of dairy cattle genetics in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences, served as the team's coach.
"I learned that judging in foreign countries is a lot different," Curtis said. Unlike the 15-minute judging timeframe in the U.S., the Scottish competition allowed just five minutes.
"This experience taught me that working together and gathering information from a variety of people to combine with my own knowledge is an important skill," Curtis said.
The team was split into pairs for the Highland Show. Curtis and Hoffman placed fourth, while Smoker and Haag placed eighth.
"I'm so proud of how this team works together," said Brittany Snyder, a chaperone for the trip. "They support and encourage each other every step of the way."
She recalled observing the team prepare for the Highland Show. "They asked for reminders and tips from those skilled in providing reasons," she said. "They discussed cow placement and actively listened and collaborated. I couldn't have been more proud to witness such poise and class from these ladies."
The team placed first at the Clonmel Agricultural Show. "The Ireland show was really exciting," Hoffman said. "We were extremely privileged to be able to judge together as a team, which is something we've never been able to do in the U.S."
Dechow explained that this was the first time the team worked together to place classes. In U.S. contests, participants judge individually and independently place a class, whereas in this contest, they collaborated to determine a composite placing among the four team members.
Hoffman said they worked well together by advocating for the cows they selected and reaching compromises. "Those compromises led to us winning the Ireland show as a team," she said. "That bonded us together and was a great way to end our international judging experience."
Smoker said her favorite part of the trip was judging the cows at the two shows. "The contests were so fun," she said. "But I liked the fairs most of all. The Royal Highland Show was like a state fair here in the States, and the Clonmel Show reminded me of a county fair.”
Source: psu.edu
Photo Credit: gettyimages-jessicahyde
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