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Cambridge, ON August 5, 2014 – Sunny blue skies and an enthusiastic group of 81 4-H’ers from across the province came together and made for a perfect way to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Inter-County 4-H Dairy Cattle Judging Competition.
The annual competition, organized by the Ontario Holstein Branch, was held on July 31st at the Ancaster Fairgrounds. Junior and senior 4-H members, hailing as far as Essex County in the West and Carleton and Dundas Counties in the East, judged nine classes of cattle from various farms throughout the day.
Participants began the day writing a quiz based on material from the “You be the Judge” manual, which all young judges use to hone their skills. After completing the 50-point quiz, the 4-Her’s evaluated three classes of Holsteins, three classes of Jerseys and one class each of Brown Swiss, Guernsey and Ayrshire cattle.
After lunch, participants reconvened to give their reasons for evaluation by the official judges of the day: Lowell Lindsay, Ken Empey, Courtney O’Neill, Jennifer Peart, Chris Kyle, Dan Aitken, Heather Peart, Kyle MacLeod, Mike West, Terry Beckett and Steve Fraser. Senior members gave reasons on six of the classes they judged in the morning while juniors gave reasons on three. The official judges gave their official placings and cuts to finish off the afternoon.
Participants, volunteers and sponsors alike all enjoyed a delicious roast beef dinner, while anxiously awaiting the results from the day. Jason French of the Ontario Holstein Branch opened the banquet by thanking the sponsors and volunteers. Jan Kennema of John Deere, the event’s premier sponsor, and Debra Brown from 4-H Ontario, brought greetings from their respective organizations and congratulated all members on their participation. Jeanette Vander Linden of Holstein Canada, also spoke to participants and highlighted some of the many career choices available to them as they go on to develop their public speaking and confidence in the dairy industry.
In the Junior category, Madison Dyment of Oxford had another successful year, winning High Individual, High Placings, High Reasons, High Holsteins and High Jerseys. This year’s High Team in the junior division was made up of Grace MacLeod and Madison Dyment, coached by Dean Karn of Oxford. Jeremy Taylor and Kirkland Reaney of Carleton, coached by Karen Velthuis, were runners-up. Emma Roszell was this year’s recipient of the Junior Rookie award.
Between the junior and senior awards, a series of presentations took place. New this year, a jackpot draw for $100 was made available by the family of the late Joe Snyder, former Field Rep for West-Central Ontario and the General Manager of the Ontario Holstein Branch from 1980 – 1993. Joe’s wife, Bea Snyder, and daughter, Jenny Gleeson, were happy to present the jackpot to lucky winner, Alex Dolson. Alex is a 4-H member in Wellington County and will be entering his post-secondary studies in the fall.
Between the junior and senior awards, a series of presentations took place to commemorate the competition’s 25th anniversary. Jason French invited all past participants dating back to 1990 to come up to be recognized. Jason mentioned that some of the competition’s past winners have gone on to become lawyers, competitive athletes and many work in the dairy industry today.
One past participant, Christina Crowley of Holstein Canada, gave an animated talk about the once-in-a- lifetime experience she had as a member of the Ontario Judging Team in 2007. She expressed her gratitude to the people who mentored her along the way and in particular, to Bert Stewart, who has coached all 25 Ontario teams since the competition began. Christina spoke of Bert’s deep cow knowledge and his tenacity when it comes to making sure the Ontario Judging Team is always well-prepared. She invited Bert to join her at the front for a ribbon presentation, which was met by a standing ovation from the crowd.
Next, it was time to recognize the senior winners. In the senior division, Jennifer Charlton was named High Individual winner. She also won many other senior category awards, including High Individual, High Placings and High Reasons. High Individual Runner-Up was Courtney Ray of Hastings. Craig LeRoy was the recipient of this year’s senior rookie award.
Winning High Senior Team and Coach this year was the Brant County team made up of Jennifer Charlton and Collin Allardyce, coached by Terry Green. The Runner-Up High Team and Coach were Chantal Stoop and Craig LeRoy, coached by Brenda Roszell. Congratulations to all of this year’s winners, listed below.
The following winners will represent Ontario at the World Dairy Expo, where they will compete in the 93rd National 4-H Dairy Cattle Judging Contest; Jennifer Charlton of Brant, Chantal Stoop of Niagara, Ava Doner of Durham East and Courtney Ray of Hastings. These four individuals were the top four winners of the day and will travel to Madison, WI, for 10 days in October with Bert Stewart and Murray Reissner as coaches.
Without the dedication and support of the Ontario Dairy Youth Trust Fund and John Deere as well as the many sponsors, committee members and volunteers, the Inter-County Cattle Judging Competition would not be possible.
Provided by Ontario Dairy Youth
