The Missouri Team Ends Their Year.

The Missouri 4-H Dairy Judging team of Blake Wright, Nicholas Dotson, Hala Edquist and Bailey Groves are winding up their judging year with the All-American contest in Harrisbug and then onto World Dairy Expo.

Proud to report that Missouri 4-H had a great contest: they were the third place team overall!
Individual placings were:
• 2nd in Jerseys and Holsteins
• 4th in Guernseys
• 5th in Brown Swiss
• Bailey Groves was 5th high individual overall, 2nd in Ayrshires and 4th in Guernseys
• Blake Wright was 2nd in Holsteins and 4th in Jerseys.

A very successful outing for this team that has worked hard to overcome some challenges. Next up: National 4-H Dairy Judging contest in Madison, Wisconsin!

The Missouri 4-H Dairy Judging team takes several days attending many farms on the way to Expo practicing. This is a great opportunity to view different herds and cattle. They also get aquainted with other schools, teams and coaches. Here are a few of the stops we made in four days as we traveled to Expo.

Here are the results from the contest:
• 12th High Team in the Nation
• 4th in Ayrshires
• 7th in Brown Swiss
• 8th in Oral Reasons
• Bailey Groves was high individual in Ayrshires, 2nd in Brown Swiss, and 3rd in Oral Reasons, averaging a 45.8. The high individual in reasons averaged 46, and had 1 more point than Bailey. I don't have records to teams prior to 1997, but this is the highest individual in oral reasons for Missouri 4-H since that time, and possibly ever. Scott Wilson was 4th high in oral reasons in 2008.
• Hala Edquist was 2nd in Ayrshires and 10th in Brown Swiss.

These are the measurable results of our contest. The team was a little disappointed in their overall standings, and we didn't have our best day judging and being in agreement with the officials. We had some highs to celebrate, and we had some lows. But here are the results that are a bit more difficult to measure. This team has passion. Passion for judging and passion for this industry. If I wasn't sure about that before this trip, I am now. One team member that I wasn't sure had that fire, got to the point where he argued with his coaches over a pair switch on a practice class. I realize that not everyone thinks that is a positive, but it demonstrates confidence in his placing to us. He was so adamant about it that he gave 4 sets of reasons on the same class so he could convince us!

Team is more than just a word. One team member had an uncharacteristically bad day judging. As difficult as it was for him to take that personally, he was far more upset about how he felt he let his team down. So for those who think a judging team is merely a collection of individuals, they couldn't be more wrong. Teammates lift each other up, develop friendships and camaraderie. I also watched our team congratulate others who had success during and after the awards were announced. These were friends from other states and in some cases in other judging divisions that our team had gotten to know during our judging workouts prior to this contest.

Our team can talk! In MIssouri, we have usually had the situation where teams were really good at judging, but needed more when it came to the reasons room. We had some excellent oral reasons scores, even on classes where we didn't agree with the officials. For those that may not be judging alums, that is difficult to do.

We are proud of this team, and how far they have come. Some started working toward this when they were very young, age 10 or so. Others just started working with us a little over a year ago. I am excited to watch these 4 young adults as they grow and develop. I know they will continue to make us proud.

Coaches: Karla Deaver and Ted Probert

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