By Scott Halasz
XENIA — Roles were reversed at the Greene County Fair Monday as 4-H members had a chance to act as quasi-judges in the cattle barn.
Participating in the dairy judging contest, the youth watched as adults led cattle around the barn as if they were the showmen. With pen and paper in hand, the 4-H members had 12 minutes to answer five questions about dairy heifers and then Jersey heifers. Questions included finding the one with the best frame, the one with the most dairy characteristics, the most open rib and the flattest feet.
Whomever was the most accurate and agreed with the judge running the contest would be the winner. But for the 4-H members, winning wasn’t the big takeaway.
“It helps me choose out my cattle for the next year,” said Katie Atider, 12, a Fairborn resident and member of the Husky Hustlers 4-H club. “You get to learn a lot.”
Atider added that picking the winning dairy heifer wasn’t easy.
“I could like something but the judge doesn’t,” she said.
Answering the questions came easily to Xenia resident Madison Tucker, 14, a member of Noah’s Ark 4-H.
“I live on a dairy farm so I see cows every day of my life,” she said.
But despite that, she sees great value in the contest.
“It basically teaches you how to judge a cow, you know what to look for,” she said. “I think it will help me a lot in life.”
The judge was detailed in explaining his methodology for answering each of the questions, so if anyone answered incorrectly, they knew why.
Results were expected to be announced Tuesday. There were approximately 15 kids entered.
