Judging Contests

Houston Livestock Show™ Judging Contests

Decision-making skills learned at a young age play a vital role in meeting the challenges that life offers. The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo hosts agricultural judging contests that provide young people an opportunity to establish a solid foundation for cultivating and practicing these skills.

The Show hosts nine judging contests for junior high, high school and college students. These contests are designed and conducted as the culmination of weeks of practice in 4-H club and school instructional programs. The Show contests are:

4-H and FFA Poultry Judging Contest

The contestants place poultry classes including one dozen cartons of chicken eggs, past production egg-type hens (students rank live hens according to estimated past egg production based on the coloring of pigmentation of the hen's egg), turkey carcasses, and pre-cooked, breaded chicken patties. The contest also includes a written examination, poultry carcass parts for identification and chicken eggs for interior quality grading.

Range and Pasture Plant Identification Contest

This contest involves identification of a minimum of 50 grass samples and range plants. Their value, either beneficial or detrimental to livestock and wildlife, is determined and recorded by each contestant.

4-H and FFA Livestock Judging Contest
4-H and FFA Dairy Judging Contest
Intercollegiate Livestock Judging Contest
4-H and FFA Horse Judging Contest

These contests require the students to match their skills in selecting the best quality livestock of various species against placings of an officially qualified livestock judge. Each contestant is asked to place, in numerical order from highest to lowest quality, each of four animals in several classes.

Scores are determined by a point value based on the difference between animals; each animal out of place as compared to the judge's official placing is penalized by point deductions.

The top 20 high-scoring individuals participating in either the 4-H and FFA livestock judging contests or in the 4-H and FFA dairy judging contest receive calf purchase certificates to be used toward the purchase of quality beef heifers. These contest winners, along with their heifers, then become part of the regular calf scramble program.

The intercollegiate judging contests are conducted in the same manner as the 4-H and FFA contests with one exception: the college students are required to give oral reasons, which are graded as well, explaining how they placed each animal in the class.

4-H and FFA Meats Judging Contest
Intercollegiate Meat Judging Contest

The 4-H and FFA Meat Judging Contest allows 4-H and FFA teams to apply their industry knowledge and judging skills.

The intercollegiate contest enables university students studying production agriculture to apply their knowledge of fine carcass samples produced in Texas.

Teams of four contestants judge beef, pork and lamb carcasses at the Houston Food Bank. Written reasons pertaining to the quality and yield differences must be given. Awards are presented to individual and team winners.

4-H and FFA Wool Judging Contest Intercollegiate Wool And Mohair Judging Contest

Since a large quantity of the world's supply of wool is grown in Texas, it's appropriate that the Show sponsor a wool and mohair judging contest.

The contest involves placing breed and commercial fleeces and classifying 15 fleeces of wool into various grades and spinning counts. Special attention is paid to the wool's staple length and yield, and the highest yielding fleeces are ranked first, followed in order by those with a lesser yield. Additionally, contestants will determine the correct grades for a class of 30 mohair samples.

4-H and FFA Wildlife Habitat Evaluation Contest

The contest is divided into two separate divisions - a Wildlife Evaluation Program division and a Career Development Event division, following FFA contest guidelines but open to both 4-H and FFA members. The purpose of the wildlife habitat evaluation contest is to test students' knowledge on identifying potential problems that can occur in wildlife habitats. If these problems can be identified, steps can be taken to correct them and man and nature can coexist in harmony.

Contestants will work independently on food identification, habitat interpretation using aerial photography and on site habitat management recommendations. Senior division contestants also give independent oral reasons and complete a rural or urban wildlife management plan.

4-H and FFA Floriculture

This contest is separated into three parts. In part one, contestants identify 50 different specimens, which may consist of any part of a plant. In part two, contestants place six classes of cut flowers, greenery or container grown plants. In part three of this contest, contestants are given a general knowledge exam, consisting 50 multiple choice questions.

4-H and FFA Nursury Landscape

This contest is separated into three parts. In part one, contestants identify 50 different specimens, which may consist of any part of a plant. In part two, contestants place six classes. Plants in each class are from the same species or cultivar. Some classes may be bare root; others may be balled-and-burlapped or container-grown. In part three of this contest, contestants are given a general knowledge exam consisting 50 multiple choice questions.