Houston County Represents Alabama at the National 4-H Livestock Judging Contest in Louisville, KY

Pictured in Louisville L-R Ryan Clark, Robins Carothers, Patrick Andress, Kara Clark , Brad Baker and 4-H Agent, Sheila Andreasen

        Houston County 4-H members proudly represented Alabama in the 2008 National 4-H Livestock Judging event recently in Louisville, KY.  Houston County team members were:  Ryan Clark, a sophomore at Wicksburg High  and Kara Clark, freshman at Wallace College, are the son and daughter of  Scott  & Karry Clark of Newton;  Patrick Andress, a junior at Rehobeth , is the son of Thomas and Ivy Andress of Cottonwood and Carla Floyd of Dothan;  Brad Baker,  a senior at Ariton High , is the son of  Mr. and Mrs. Kenny Baker of Ariton,  and  Robins ‘Pid’ Carothers, a Senior at Rehobeth High, is the son of Robins and Jerri Carothers of Dothan.   Mr. Jerry Mullins-4H volunteer/coach and Sheila Andreasen, 4-H Agent  accompanied the team.
     In July, the team won the 2008 STATE CHAMPION title and the right to represent Alabama in the national contest.   Livestock judging is the most competitive of the judging program areas requiring youth to evaluate breeding and market animals in cattle, swine, sheep and goats, utilize performance data for breeding animals in making decisions to place classes, answer questions concerning the data or animals in the class, and give four sets of oral reasons using correct terminology. The team traveled to agriculture campuses of seven major universities, visited nationally known livestock producers in eight states and visited related commercial agri-businesses in preparation for the national event.         
    The 4-H National Livestock contest was held November 18 in conjunction with the North American International Livestock Exposition in Louisville, Kentucky, with an awards breakfast the following morning at the Expo site.  Thirty-two states competed in this top level competition. Alabama was the top team in the southeast, placing over Georgia, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi and finished in the top twenty in the nation.  Individually, team members scored in the top one-third of the 128 students participating. 
      Following the awards program students took time out to visit the North American livestock shows , toured the cattle and sheep barns and attended the trade show. A big thank you to all sponsors and  producers across the state who supported this team.