It's been about a dozen years since Manitoba 4-H sent a team to the Canadian Western Agribition in Regina last month to participate in the judging competition with fellow 4-H teams from across the country. Portage area's own Karen Olafson was involved.
Excitement Builds for Manitoba’s Return to Agribition
"We were very excited to put together a judging team to send to Agribition this year," shared Manitoba 4-H Council Executive Director, Shannon Carvey. "We had not sent a judging team in well over a decade to the competition at Agribition.
Team Selection and Preparation
Manitoba 4-H members who were interested had participated in qualifying competitions leading up to their May 4-H Rally where a total of 4 teammates were chosen.
"Our final four judging team members have worked really hard over the summer and fall seasons working at practicing judging, giving oral reasons, and just learning about judging competitions in general, in which none of them had ever competed in," explains Carvey.
Hands-On Experience to Sharpen Skills
Club Support Coordinators and instructors for the Judging Team, April Willis (Carberry area) and Karen Olafson (Oak Bank area), set up a series of static items to be judged (such as eggs) as well as live items like livestock and poultry to sharpen their judging skills.
Industry Support and Mentorship
"It was a ton of fun, and we really relied on people within the livestock industry as a whole to help us through that," explained Carvey. "We were very lucky to be able to travel to different farms and learn about specific livestock types and just have those folks mentor our girls and share information with them. And that's the nice thing about the livestock industry is that we're all one big family!"
Meet the 2024 4-H Manitoba Judging Team
The 2024 4-H Manitoba Judging Team consisted of Danica P (4-H Beef Club Neepawa), Alexandria B (Archie 4-H Light Horse and Pony Club, Hamiota), Hailey K (South Brandon Roseland 4-H Beef Club, Brandon), and Laura S (Windygates 4-H Beef Club, Darlingford).
Learning Opportunities at Agribition
The Canadian National 4-H & Youth Judging Competition helps develop the skills of young agriculture judges at Regina's Agribition. There, the competitors have the opportunity to attend and view one of the world’s largest international agricultural marketplaces. Grand Aggregate of the competitions received a $2,500 scholarship plus the prestigious honour of being a judge at Agribition’s First Lady Classic Heifer Show.
Individual and Team Scoring at Agribition
At Agribition each team member was scored individually and then the team points were totaled. The top points scorer was a student at U of Saskatchewan, accumulating the most points in the judging competition since its inception. The top 5 placing 4-H members each received a scholarship of varying amounts.
Hailey K’s Strong Performance
When it came to the Manitoba team, Brandon 4-H competitor Hailey K was 12 points behind the 6th placing member, which is very impressive says Carvey.
"A very close placing there between Hailey and the 6th place person," notes Carvey. "We were very proud of the girls and their critical thinking skills. We've watched them get better and better and better, and that's what it's all about, learn to do by doing and excelling at a skill!"
Sponsorship and Support from Heartland Livestock Services
Carvey extends a huge thank you to Brennin Jack and Heartland Livestock Services in Virden for their sponsorship and support. "He was very quick to say yes to be our sponsor to go to Agribition and we thank them! Their generosity and encouragement mean the world to us and have played a key role in our success!"
Looking Ahead to the 2025 Judging Team
A new team will be formed in spring during their annual spring rally to compete against their fellow Manitoba 4-H members to land a spot in the 2025 judging competition team.
