Ag Students Place Fourth at State
by Jerry Schmidt
May 16, 2008
Minneapolis High School Ag students had many accomplishments at the state career development event competitions hosted by Kansas State University.
The Entomology team of Jared Schmidt, Morgan Halderson, and Ben Perry finished in 4th place out of 34 schools. Bringing home medals were Ben in 5th and Jared 7th out of 93 contestants. Students identified 50 insects and took a written test over insect habitats, food habits, and pest management practices.
The poultry team of Garett Folger, Garrett Daugherty, and Dylan Crosson placed 16th out of 46 schools. Students judged a class of hens, cull/keep class of broilers, placed broiler and turkey carcasses, identified parts, graded carcass quality, placed a class of carton eggs, placed chicken patties, took an exam, candled eggs, and participated in a team event.
The Horse Judging team of Alyson McCall, Jessica Smith, and Trevor Girard placed 10th out of 47 teams. They had to judge six classes of horses and give three sets of reasons on halter and performance classes. They also took a written test. Individually, Alyson finished 25th out of 147 contestants.
The Dairy Foods Team of Diedre Aurand, Amber Buckles, Jessica Smith, and Analena Simmons placed 13th out of 51 schools. Individually, Diedre placed 29th out of 185 contestants. Students identified six milk off-flavors, seven cheese samples, scored two milker units, evaluated four samples of milk for mastitis, evaluated six samples as real or artificial, and took a written test over milk production and marketing.
The Livestock judging team of Dylan Crosson, Garrett Pounds, Jake Eckert, and Jacob Klein finished 43rd out of 83 schools. This is the largest contest and most competitive of the state career development events.
