Missouri 4-H team takes top honors at national judging contest

For the first time in the team’s history, Missouri 4-H finished as No. 1 in the nation at the 2022 All-American Dairy Show Invitational Youth Dairy Cattle Judging Contest, held Sept. 19 in Harrisburg, Penn. The team of Payton Nix of Mountain Grove, Lila Wantland of Niangua and Whitney Yerina of Phillipsburg finished ahead of Florida and Kentucky to win the contest.

“All three team members finished in the top 20,” said Karla Deaver, University of Missouri Extension 4-H youth development specialist and co-coach of the team. “They were very consistent across breeds, and that gave us the edge.”

Nix scored as third high individual overall, second high individual in Ayrshires, ninth in Brown Swiss, third in Holsteins and fifth in oral reasons. Yerina was 10th high individual overall in the contest and 12th in Holsteins. Wantland finished 19th overall and was seventh in Ayrshires and 11th in Guernseys.

The team was second in Ayrshires by 1 point. They were also fourth in Brown Swiss and Holsteins, fifth in Guernseys and sixth in oral reasons. Contestants placed 10 classes and gave four sets of reasons. The team is coached by Deaver and MU Extension dairy specialist Ted Probert.
Nix, Wantland and Yerina also had a historic showing Oct. 2 at the World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wis., where they competed in the 100th National 4-H Dairy Cattle Judging Contest. Deaver said all three 4-Hers were named “All-American,” and the team placed second in Holsteins, the best finish ever in that breed. They were also ranked third in Jerseys and sixth overall out of 20 competing teams.

Missouri 4-H finished as the high overall team at the 2022 All-American Dairy Show Invitational Youth Dairy Cattle Judging Contest in September. Team members are, from left, co-coach Karla Deaver, Lila Wantland, Payton Nix and Whitney Yerina.

Read more in this Dec/Jan2023 issue of Today’s Farmer