We've Got The County Covered
We've Got The County Covered
Members from two local FFA Chapters attended the Northern International Livestock Exposition (NILE) this past week at MetraPark in Billings. In the NILE Meats Evaluation Competition Junior Division, Chinook saw two members gain top ten status: Gus Buck and Bryce Elliot. In addition, the Meats Team from the Big Flat was ranked 12th. These judging contests took place on Tuesday, October 15.
From Chinook, Gus Buck scored 342 to take fifth place individually, and Bryce Elliot accumulated 330 points to rank ninth. With those scores, Buck and Elliot rocketed their team to a fifth place overall in the NILE’s Junior Division Meats Evaluation Competition.
Two more junior division participants, Megan Flanagan and Bella Brown scored in the top twenty in the NILE Horse Evaluation. Flanagan racked up 468 points to qualify for 16th place. In addition, with only a four point separation, Flanagan’s teammate, Brown captured 18th place with 464 accumulated points. Their performance enabled the team to secure seventh place overall.
From Turner, the Senior Division Meats Team comprised of Landon Hickel, Jake Brown, Finn Janczik, Avery Fox, JR Brown, Joseph Trautmann, and Pau Montal acquired 1137 total points to rank twelfth. Of those points, Hickel, a junior with the Big Flat FFA Chapter, contributed 301 while Jake Brown, a sophomore, wasn’t far behind with 294.
Contestants competing in the Meats Evaluation were required to take a written exam, perform quality and yield grading, engage with evaluation classes, complete a keep/cull scenario, conduct value based pricing activities, answer classification questions, identify retail meats, and engage in a team activity.
The written test consisted of questions relating to meat storage and handling, cookery, nutrition, food safety (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points, bio-security, and personal safety), processed meats, legislation and history, purchasing meat, and animal care and handling.
On the Quality and Yield Grading portion of the competition, students assigned quality and yield grade scores to carcasses. Related to that category, members evaluated carcasses, giving back fat recommendations, as well as selecting wholesale/sub-primal cuts, retail cuts, and processed meats.
While engaging with the Keep/Cull Scenario, members were provided a situation and then given time to review/evaluate meat products to make selections based on that information received.
Then for the Value-Based Pricing phase of competition, students placed exhibits based not only on values derived from a pricing sheet but also on current market values.
In the Classification Question Class, students were asked questions from evaluation classes and given a few minutes to review notes before providing answers.
Next, competitors were required to identify upwards of 30 Retail Meats, receiving points for accuracy in species identification, primal cut identification, cookery choice, and retail name.
Finally, in the Team Activity, teams completed different scenarios to reflect and demonstrate their knowledge of the meat industry.
According to Youth Program Coordinator, Shelby Shaw, “An overwhelming, exceptional attendance and the notice for ‘the need’ of professionals in our area led to the return of the Meat Evaluation Contests this year.” These were open to both 4-H and FFA members.
Finn Janczik, an exchange student from Germany attending Turner Public School this year, stated that the competition was quite grueling. “It was hard. We had lots to do, so it was a long day.” Janczik also commented on the language barrier, claiming that some of his work was lost in translation challenges.
