Rangely 4-H team members place in Phoenix

RANGELY I The temperatures were wonderful in Phoenix for the 66th annual Arizona National Livestock Show. The Panther Country 4-H Junior Livestock Judging Team of Trevor Austin, Tristan Hall, Destinee Bland and Raelynn Norman, all of Rangely, placed ninth overall in team standings from approximately 16 junior and 24 senior teams.
Three members of the team were “pretty beat up” on a class of “Wether Dams” and “Xbred Heifers.” The wether dams stood hunched up in the shade and moved little, causing some doubts in their minds. The Xbred heifers were all pretty gorgeous and just a tough class to break apart, except for one youngster, Trevor Austin. While Trevor’s reasons for his judging were middle of the road and Bland and Norman out-talked him, Austin he placed in all classes of livestock.
Austin walked away as Arizona National Livestock Show Junior Judging Champion, and he is pretty proud of his new buckle.
While in Phoenix this team of four was invited to compete in the College of Southern Idaho 4H/FFA Livestock Judging Contest in April in Twin Falls.
The team has decided to see what happens in Cortez on March 15 before committing. Reasons need to be worked on and grades need to be checked at school.
There will be a livestock judging information meeting Jan. 23 at the 4-H Western Annex Building in Rangely. This meeting will inform the members and their parents about the upcoming season and the new rules about maintaining a report card without any “Fs,” responsibility for paperwork, dry-cleaning their suits and how ranking will be run. New junior coach Kaylee Mecham will be welcomed and she will be set up with her 8- to 10-year-old beginners.
Schedules for practices and contests will also be handed out and information on Kentucky and who is going and how to earn one of those remaining spots will be available.
On Feb. 27 at 6:30 p.m. at the Weiss Center on the Colorado Northwestern Community College campus, the judging team will do a presentation for beginning or curious 4-H livestock members and their parents on selecting a good project animal. They will start with animal health and go into confirmation and end with what paperwork is needed for the fair.
Please attend if you need any assistance in locating animals or have questions about how to do a better project. If you have any questions, you can contact the CSU Extension Office at 878-9499 in Meeker or Bonnie Long at 620-0697 in Rangely.