Livestock Judging: Boyd Takes Over, Keeps Things Fun
January 16, 2019
Joshua Boyd has completed his first semester serving as the livestock judging coach at Allen Community College.
Livestock judging is a lot like a debate team. The team places four different kinds of livestock (cattle, pigs, sheep, and goats) into qualities and characteristics and defend their reasons for doing so. According to Boyd, it is a fun and enjoyable environment where the students get to travel around the country to compete.
“The goal of the competition is to prepare students to enter the livestock industry and make them into valuable employees,” said Boyd. “That is if they end up working for themselves or for a large livestock operation.”
However, the competition isn’t always serious and straightforward. The team, which consists of four sophomores and one freshman, know how to joke around. Boyd shared a story of a specific trip when Jayden Linnebur fell asleep and the team stole his hat and hid it in the back of the van! These antics are common during the team’s long car rides.
Linnebur, Jaylie Wesoloh, Ryan Beeson, and Boyd all had similar goals for the semesters competitions. They all wanted the team to win as many competitions as they could and improve each student individually.
The livestock judging team usually does well at these competitions, placing in the top ten on multiple occasions. They haven’t won yet, but there is emphasis on that “yet!”
