Livestock Judging Challenge

I am an alumnus of Kansas State University and a lifelong cattle rancher. I would like to make a wager with the KSU Livestock Judging Team or any faculty associated with the Department of Agriculture. My wager would be in the form of a direct scholarship for a winning student. In the case of a winning faculty member I would make a donation to that person's Department of choice.

I am offering $1000 cash to anyone who can demonstrate their abilities as a livestock judge on my family's ranch or to anyone who can demonstrate the relevance of livestock judging to real industry situations and applications.

I will arrange for transportation to our ranch in south-central Kansas. Each participant will have the option of judging brood cows, replacement heifers in a growing yard, or feedlot cattle on a finishing ration. Each participant will choose 20 percent of a given pen or pasture. All groups will be of sufficient size to allow a fair comparison. We will record that participant's choices in the form of ear tag numbers. For our purposes those will be "the participant's" cattle. Those cattle will be compared against the remaining 80 percent that were NOT chosen. We will consider only the economic merit that those cattle have in our operation.

If the participant chooses to judge feedlot cattle we will look at the value of the carcasses on the rail. This value will be in dollars per hundredweight. We will simply average the contestant's choices (in $/cwt) and compare them with the remainder. An independent analysis of the the results could be done by the mathematics or statistics department to determine "statistical significance" (Z-scores or p values).

In the case of cows or replacement heifers we will consider "weaning efficiency" of the chosen cows. I consider this a more useful economic measure than simply "weaning weight", which is unduly influenced by the mature size of the cow. We will total the weaning weights of the chosen cows' calves and divide that number by the weight of the chosen cows themselves. That will provide a weaning efficiency for that group. Again, we will compare it scientifically with the remaining 80 percent of the herd.

Extreme sickness will be accounted for fairly in an adjustment. Death loss will eliminate that animal from our calculations. Only dry cows will be evaluated.

If I lose the wager I will gain valuable insight into our business. I would also possibly gain an advisor or consultant on livestock selection practices in our herd. It would be well worth the investment.

If I win the contest I would ask that I be allowed to speak at an upcoming Block and Bridle meeting or similar gathering of prospective agricultural students. I would like to participate in a discussion of modern selection methods of livestock.