Kansas City to Live Oak 2012

Wednesday morning was awards banquet morning.  We got to the banquet hall early, so the girls had a chance to thank all of the judges for putting on the contest.  Here they are talking to Dr. Tom Carr, former meat science Extension specialist from Illinois.  After the awards banquet Dr. Davey Griffin, meat science Extension specialist from Texas A&M told Mr. Brian, "They (Suwannee County 4-H meat judging team) impressed me more than a lot of groups that came to the contest, especially in the way they handled themselves, came up and thanked the judges, and competed.  Tell them to hang in there and they are going to go far."  Awesome job girls!

After the banquet was finished we took some pictures with the American Royal banner.  What a sharp looking group.  The awards banquet was a little bit of a bummer because they only gave results for the top five teams and our name wasn't called.  What was even worse was that they did not have sheets for the coaches with the full results.  We had to wait an agonizing hour to see the results posted online.  Congratulations to Carley Herring who had her name called and she got to stand up to be recognized for tying for 5th place in retail judging.

 

 Here are the girls with there proud coach. 

While we were waiting for results we decided to go to Cabelas.  Look at this display!  Soon after we arrived, the results were posted.

 

The girls posed for a picture as Mr. Brian told them that they had placed 8th in the nation!  These looks say it all!  Congratulations! 

 

We left Kansas City and flew back to Atlanta and then on to Jacksonville.  We arrived back in Live Oak around 1:30am on Thursday morning.  This was a great trip ful of competition, education, delicious food and a lot of fun.  Great job Suwannee County 4-H and Sara, Abby, Carley, and Taylor!

Manhattan to Kansas City 2012

Tuesday was contest day for the Suwannee County 4-H meat judging team.  The girls woke up ready and raring to go.  They were also all smiles headed into the contest.

 This is 15 of 30 retail identification cuts.  Could you identify the species, primal, retail cut name, and cookery method of 15 of these in 12 minutes?

 

What cut is this?  Is it a ribeye?  Is it a sirloin cutlet?  No, it is a pork loin blade chop boneless, cooked dry/moist.  All of the Suwannee County 4-H girls correctly identified this cut.  

 

Here is a pork blade chop placing class.  How would you place it?  The Suwannee County 4-H meat judging team all placed this class 2-3-4-1.

 

The girls also had to place carcasses.  Below is a class of pork carcasses.  Look for trimness and muscling to place this class.  How would you place this class?

 

Once the contest was all over, the girls were still smiling!

 

After the contest was over, the team went back through the contest to talk about why things were placed.  Here Mr. Brian is talking to the team about placing the pork carcasses 1-3-2-4.  How did you do?

 

The team also talked their way through the retail cuts.  The girls were still smiling at this point, so hopefully they did good.

 

Finally we went outside to show off the duds.  Notice the 4-H green shirts and hard hats.

 

The Suwannee County 4-H meat judging team also took some pictures at the Kansas State University sign.  These girls did a great job representing Suwannee County and 4-H this week.  We should all be proud of them.

 

 

Once the team pictures were done and the contest behind them, the glamour shots started.

 

The team also stopped at this scenic overlook just outside Manhattan, KS.

 

Once we got to Kansas City, the girls found the mirrored ceilings in the elevator to be a lot of fun.

 

 We ate dinner at the Hereford House.  Yum!

 

The Hereford House was prepared for these girls.  They gave us our own private room.

 

Which was probably a good thing because this face was prevalent.  Abby provided comedic relief throughout dinner and this entire trip.

 

After the Hereford House, we went to a mirror maze.  And then the girls multiplied.  Somewhere in the darkness, Mr. Brian screamed. 

 

So after a long day of competition, pictures, travel, delicious food, mirrors, and Abby's craziness, the day ended.  The power team from Suwannee County 4-H did a great job at the contest and we will find out results Wednesday morning. 

Lincoln to Manhattan 2012

So we woke up Monday morning to a cold, wet day in Lincoln, Nebraska. We got to the Animal Sciences building early to practice.

 

 

We were able to practice at the meat lab.  We judged pork and beef carcasses, hams, pork loins, beef ribs, beef loins, and retail id cuts.  The girls also had to take notes to give oral reasons. 

 

One of the best things about 4-H meat judging is that participants learn life skills such as critical thinking, decision making, problem solving, public speaking, teamwork, consumer skills and a lot more.  Here the girls judged a tough pork carcass class. 

 

Next the girls were heavily involved in retail identification.  From this vantage point, you can see a tip roast cap off, lamb rib roast, mock tender roast, chuck eye roast, top loin roast, and some more cuts that the girls had to identify the species, primal, retail name, and cookery method on.

 

 Here you can see that Mr. Leroy found a friend.

 

 Mr. Brian was getting pretty passionate about this beef carcass class.  The quality of the beef in Nebraska was really good.

 

 Then the girls decided to take a break from judging and start posing with the lamb carcasses.

 

Dr. Dennis Burson from UNL gave the Florida and Colorado teams a tour of the facilities.  He also arranged for each team that practiced to receive a drawstring bag full of UNL Animal Sciences information.  This was a great thing for all of the youth to learn about the program and broaden horizons concerning college.  Thank you Dr. Burson!

 

Nebraska had an arena in the animal science building. 

 

They also had this cool window. 

 

After we finished our 4 hour practice in 45 degree temperatures and our tour, we decided to take a driving tour of campus.  As you can see, we almost lost the Suwannee County 4-H meat judging team to an unfortunate mammoth accident.

 

Then the girls decided to take pictures with anything and everything.  This includes big rocks and yellow trees. 

 

We finally got out of Lincoln and drove south.  Once we got to the Kansas state line, it was picture time again. 

 

The meat judging team loved the old church at the state line.  They also loved their photographer.  See really went to great lengths to get the perfect picture. 

 

 We also realized that on the other side of the road was another sign. 

 

We had a great day full of meat, pictures, driving, and fun.  Wish us luck as the girls compete tomorrow morning. 

 

Live Oak to Lincoln 2012

The Suwannee County 4-H meat judging team left Live Oak on Sunday morning October 21st at 3:30am.  Needless to say, the girls were tired.

It just so happened that all 4 girls had NEVER flown before.  This made the trip really interesting!

Once we got to Atlanta, they loved the train from station to station.  It caught them a little off guard, though.

In Kansas City we were able to rent the cousin to the Suwannee Express!

We ate at Jack Stack BBQ.  The menu was huge.

  And it was delicious.  And the girls had a blast.

Once we left KC, the girls fell asleep.

Then we made it to Iowa.

Then to Nebraska!

We are in Lincoln for the night and we will practice at the UNL meat processing center in the morning then we will head south to Manhattan, KS.  Updates tomorrow!

Stay tuned for updates regarding the Suwannee County 4-H Meat Judging Team traveling to the 2012 National 4-H Meat Judging Contest at Kansas State University. Good luck to the team of Abby, Carley, Sara, and Taylor!