Dairy Cattle Judging

• Senior Division must be 14-18 years on December 31 and a full-time 4-H member.
• Junior division must be 8 years of age to 13 on December 31 and a full-time 4-H member.
• County agents and coaches are responsible for determining the age and member eligibility of participants in the State 4-H Dairy Cattle Judging Contest from their respective clubs.

• 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 2 participants. Combination teams must pre-register together for the appropriate age group. A team of three (3) 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.
• FFA members judging in the FFA contest who are also 4-H members may participate in both contest. To do so, they must be pre-registered by their county extension agent and fill out a 4-H card for each contest. Oral reasons scores will be used for both contests. There may be more than one FFA chapter in your county, resulting in a combination of members from different FFA chapters or a mixture of FFA members and non-FFA members, 4-H membership requirements must be observed.
  
• 4-H members are not eligible for this contest if:
  • He/she has judged at a National 4-H Dairy Cattle Judging Contest.
  • He/she has 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 he/she be a member of a post-secondary team undergoing training in preparation of an event.

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 4-H emblem on the front. County names or other affiliation should not be worn at the state contest in order 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. 4-H participants also participating in the FFA contest should follow the official dress requirements of FFA.

National 4-H Contest rules will apply. Local managers may modify rules and procedures as needed to conduct the event in the allowed time.

• There is a $5 registration fee.
• 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 if there are over 25 participants, otherwise, regular judging Hormel cards will be utilized.
• Contestants must bring their own #2 pencils if scantron is utilized, clipboards or judging books to take notes for oral reasons.
• It is the individual’s responsibility to ensure their scantron is filled out properly if it is utilized for the contest. 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.
• Contestants should not have paper, cards or notes to assist while giving reasons.

• Juniors – will judge 5 classes of dairy cattle and give 2 sets of reasons.
• Seniors – will judge 5 classes of dairy cattle with 2 sets of reasons.
• Judging Phase – 50 points per class

Contest will consist of any or all of the following placing classes: heifer class and/or cow class. A minimum of 12 minutes will be allowed for contestants to judge each class. 15 minutes will be allowed for reasons classes. FFA includes additional parts of the contest including an CDE exam. 4-H only contestants will not take an exam or judge additional classes.

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.

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

1. Reasons scores overall
2. Judging scores overall
3. Dairy cattle classes will be ranked prior to the start of the contest to serve as the final tiebreaker.

Senior and junior 4-H division participants are eligible for the following awards:

• a. Individual ribbon awards for the top five individuals
• b. Top three teams overall

Senior 4-H division first place team (top three scores plus first alternate) will be eligible to represent North Dakota 4-H at the National Contest. Ribbon awards are sponsored by the North Dakota 4-H Foundation.

To request funding for the National 4-H Dairy Cattle Judging contest: The county Extension agent of the representative team will need to write a formal letter to the ND 4-H Foundation Director, Chloe Drummond, requesting funds ($1,000) for travel (chloe.drummond@ndsu.edu). Please include:

• Who the 4-H Foundation should make the check out to
• Where to mail the check
• The names of those competing on the team
• The name and date of the National event
• Please CC Animal Science Specialist to samantha.lahman@ndsu.edu

Will be posted on the ND 4-H Animal Science Facebook Page.

• State Dairy Cattle Judging Contest Rules
• Dairy Project Sheet

• NDSU Livestock Judging Terminology Manual: To purchase, contact: LeighAnn.Skurupey@ndsu.edu
• Dairy judging resources:
  • World Diary Cattle Judging Contest photos
  • OSU Extension Youth Judging Materials -Notes and oral reasons examples:
  • Livestock Judging.com - Livestock judging.com is a 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.
  • Dairy Judging
• YouTube
  • Virginia Tech Dairy Judging 101 Channel