Extension > Youth Development > Minnesota 4-H > 4-H Events > 4-H Animal Judging Contests > 4-H Dairy Judging Contest

4-H Dairy Judging Contest

Dairy project resources can be found on the Dairy Project page.

All rules, formats and schedules will be published in the current year Minnesota Sate Fair Premium Guide.

Teams

See "General Rules for Judging Contests" section of this premium book for information and rules applying to all contests.
Form 5 - to be completed by extension educators, program coordinators or team coaches. Due date August 6th
Quota: Unlimited.
Multi-county teams may be formed by age division. Teams must have practiced together prior to the state contest (county contests do not count as practicing together). All 4-Hers within an age group, in a county, must be part of the same county or multi-county program. If the combining counties have 3 or more members in each county combining within an age division, they must judge as separate counties. If one of the counties combining has less than 3 members in an age division, they can judge with the other county they are combining with as a multi-county team. For clarification, review the MN 4-H Position Statement on Multi- County Teams.
Clarifications and Requirements for coaches of Multi-county teams
All 4-Hers compete for individual awards and must:

a. have completed 6th grade, but not be more than one year out of high school;
b. not have participated in or completed post-secondary course work in dairy cattle judging or dairy cattle evaluation;
c. not have participated in a dairy judging contest for post-secondary students.
All 4-Hers who are members of a dairy judging team must:

a. not have had their 20th birthday the year of the contest;
b. not have competed in the national 4-H dairy judging contest in Madison, WI.
To compete at the national 4-H dairy cattle judging contest (Madison, WI) all members of the team that compete in the state contest must have celebrated their 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, or 19th birthday during the year of the contest.
In the case that one member of a team of four does not meet entry requirements for the Madison contest (4-Her is too young) or Harrisburg contest (4-Her previously judged that contest), scores of the other three team members will be used to rank teams for competition at that contest.
Helpers: Each team must provide a helper for the contest. Helpers may be asked to lead animals or help with other tasks of the contest. Helpers must be state fair age youth or adults. Helpers who choose to stay overnight in 4-H lodging facilities will pay a reduced 4-H State Fair Program Fee. Their names must be included on the team's entry form. At no point should a youth participating in the judging contest be pulled from the contest to be a helper. If a team cannot provide a helpers, contact the contest coordinator.

Format

Teams may not practice judging on dairy exhibits at the state fair prior to the contest.
Seniors - will judge six classes of dairy animals: four cow classes and two heifer classes. Oral reasons will be given on three cow classes.
Intermediate - will judge the same six classes as the senior division. One set of oral reasons will be given on one cow class.
No contestant will be allowed to take any books, notes, or writing paper into the contest. A notebook will be provided to each contestant.
While the contest is in progress, there will be no communication between a contestant and anyone else, except the group leader. Any contestant violating any rules will be disqualified from the contest.
Scoring for the contest will be as follows: 50 points given for each class of cattle; and 50 points given for each set of oral reasons. In the case of ties:

a. overall individual and/or team ties will be decided by the reasons scores;
b. individual or team ties in reasons will be decided by the placing scores;
c. individual ties in both reasons and placings scores will be decided by their respective overall team placing.
d. The three highest individual reasons scores will be included for the top team reasons score i.e. a persons score could be included in their team's reason score calculation, even if that person is the lowest person (dropped person) from the team.
Placings and reasons classes will be 15 minutes.
Cattle will be numbered and shown, right to left: 1, 2, 3, 4. However, contestants are solely responsible for checking the number order of the cattle.

National Contests

The first eligible senior team will represent Minnesota at the National 4-H Dairy Cattle Judging Contest in Madison, Wisconsin. 4-Hers must have passed their 14th but not their 19th birthday on January 1 of the current year. Contestants may judge in this contest only once. Entry form and registration fee for World Dairy Expo is available at http://www.worlddairyexpo.com/gen.main.cfm.
The second eligible senior team will represent Minnesota at the All American Dairy Show, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania contest. 4-Hers must not have passed their 19th birthday on January 1 of the current year. (Harrisburg has no lower age limit.) 4-Hers may not have participated in this contest before, nor in the Madison contest. Entry form is due September 11. Information is available online. (There is no registration fee.)
The team representing Minnesota at the Louisville, Kentucky contest will be comprised of the high individuals in the senior contest who:

a. are not members of the two teams representing Minnesota at Madison or Harrisburg;
b. have not previously competed in the Louisville contest. (They may have competed in the Madison and/or Harrisburg contests in previous years.);
c. have had their 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, or 19th birthday during the year of the contest.

The coach for the team will be the coach of the highest individual on the team. Entry form and registration information.

Due to timing conflicts, 4-Hers cannot participate on the Louisville Dairy Bowl Team and the Louisville Dairy Judging Team in the same year.