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Members of FFA attend State FFA Dairy Judging

BY MRS. EVANS on September 17, 2018

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Osmond FFA Competes at State Dairy Judging Saturday, August 25th three Osmond FFA members traveled to Grand Island to compete in the State FFA Dairy Judging competition held in conjunction with the Nebraska State Fair.

Members of the team included juniors Josh Gansebom and Zach Alderson, and sophomore Zach Huwaldt. The day began bright and early for these three individuals departing Osmond at 6:30 a.m. to make the two and a half hour drive to Grand Island.

Upon arrival the team presented a prepared scenario to a panel of judges. This year’s scenario asked team members to design a brand new facility, including animal housing areas and a milking parlor for a 200 head dairy farm.

Money was not a concern for this dairy farm, therefore students could propose any design recommendations keeping in mind things like animal flow and safety for the animals and employees.

The Osmond FFA team had some of the highest marks on this portion of the competition, earning near perfect scores in several areas.

The second phase of the competition involved judging six classes of dairy animals, including two classes of Guernsey’s, a class of Milking Shorthorns, a class of Ayrshires, and two classes of Holsteins; as well as giving reasons on three classes.

Josh Gansebom, the top-placing individual on the Osmond team, commented that it was a much tougher competition than he had anticipated, noting that giving reasons on the dairy animals was probably the hardest part.