Photo: From Left to Right: Katie Anderson, Kayla Jiras, Lillie Haman, Grant Haman and Arron Fienburg 

The 2020 Iowa Beef Expo Livestock Judging Contest took place Sunday, February 9th. There were contestants from 7 states that participated in one of the largest single species livestock judging contests in America. Over 350 contestants and many volunteers made the event extremely memorable. There was no lack of quality and leadership creating excitement for the upcoming generation. “The Iowa Beef Expo Judging Contest is an event for young people from all over the country to improve their decision making and communication skills. It is a time for students to be exposed to high quality Iowa cattle. The best part is it gives producers a chance to showcase their genetics while the students are improving their skills at the same time.”

Five Clear Creek Amana students and their FFA Advisor traveled to the Iowa Beef Expo in Des Moines. The students judged 10 classes of cattle ranging from bred heifers, bred cows, performance bulls and prospect steers. The students were required to give three sets of oral reasons that were memorized in front of a judge. The oral reasons are by far the most difficult part of the judging contest. The student not only has to place the cattle correctly but provide sound justification on why they placed the cattle the way they did. From the Clear Creek Amana FFA Team Kayla Jiras had the top score with 557, followed by Katie Anderson with a 546 then Lillie Haman 543, Grant Haman 516 and Arron Feinburg 458. A perfect score at the 2020 Iowa Beef Expo Livestock judging contest would be 600 points. The team placed 8th overall out of 30 teams from 7 different states. This is only the beginning of the Clear Creek Amana FFA Livestock judging season. The next contest will be the Black Hawk Community College Contest.

Respectfully submitted by FFA Chapter Secretary Kayla Jiras