Hoard’s Dairyman announced a collaboration with the National FFA Organization, integrating the magazine’s annual Cow Judging Contest into the student organization's endorsed activities. The FFA mission of providing quality educational experiences for its members led to the partnership, as this goal dovetails with the purpose of the Hoard’s judging contest, which is entering its 96th year.
“While the Ag Ed division has been a longstanding part of the Hoard’s Dairyman Cow Judging Contest, we are thrilled to reach even more students in the classroom with this endorsement,” stated Hoard’s Dairyman managing editor Kylene Anderson. “This opportunity will expand the reach of the Hoard’s Dairyman annual Cow Judging Contest, giving students the chance to develop the lifelong skills that dairy cattle judging builds.”
The endorsement by the National FFA organization of the Hoard’s Dairyman Cow Judging Contest expands the access and promotion of the contest to FFA state and local organizations through coordinator networks. The contest allows students to learn these key life skills in a setting that doesn’t require access to live cattle for evaluation. The cow judging contest is a series of five pictorial classes of four cows, available in print or web-based format for evaluation. Participants then apply their knowledge against official dairy cattle judges. Resources to learn the fundamentals of dairy judging can be found at www.hoards.com.
The National FFA Organization is a school-based national youth leadership development organization of more than 1,027,200 student members as part of 9,235 local FFA chapters in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The FFA mission is to make a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education. Hoard’s Dairyman magazine was founded in 1885 to supply dairy farmers with practical, factual information to assist in all facets of their businesses. The Hoard’s staff operates a dairy farm which is home to the largest and longest continually registered Guernsey herd in the United States. For additional information, visit hoards.com.
