TCFA NAMES WINNERS IN
JUNIOR FED BEEF CHALLENGE

More than 60 of the beef industry's future leaders gathered in Canyon, Texas recently to test their knowledge about cattle feeding and earn the rewards of hard work as they competed in the Junior Fed Beef Challenge.       

Sponsored by the Texas Cattle Feeders Association (TCFA), the Junior Fed Beef Challenge allows 4-H or FFA students to gain practical experience in commercial cattle feeding.  Students from Texas , Oklahoma and New Mexico feed a pen of three steers, then compete on their industry knowledge and cattle performance.  The contest also features a Team Challenge, where students who don't feed cattle can compete on their cattle feeding knowledge.   This year, 37 students competed in the Junior Fed Beef Challenge and 11 teams of two to three students competed in the Team Challenge.

Senior Division Results

Overall champion and top scholarship winner in the senior division was Roxanne Herbrich of Weimer, who won a $2,000 scholarship.  Garrett Anderson of Menard captured reserve champion overall and a $1,500 scholarship and Cole Gardner of Estancia, N.M. was first runner up, winning a $1,000 scholarship. 

The overall winners are determined by combining scores in four areas-written exam, interview, record book and carcass performance of their steers.  A plaque and $500 cash award is given to first place winners in each area and plaques go to second and third.  In addition, each student who enters steers in the contest earns premium money plus the proceeds from the sale of the carcasses. 

In the written exam, Roxanne Herbrich and Cole Gardner tied for first, Kathryn Wright of Menard took second and Ole Dahl of Texhoma, Okla. , Dancey Hopping of Memphis and Garrett Anderson tied for third.  While the written exam tests the student's knowledge of the industry, the interview before a panel of judges tests their ability to think on their feet.  Kathryn Wright captured first place in the interview, with Garrett Anderson in second and Roxanne Herbrich in third. 

Cole Gardner captured the record book competition, while Justin Johnson of Hereford took second and the partnership of Dancey and Clint Hopping of Memphis receiving third.  In addition, TCFA awards $500 and a plaque to the top first-year students in the competition.  This year, Roxanne Herbrich named top rookie, followed by Jess Little of Garwood in second and Taylor White of Dalhart in third. 

In individual carcass competition, Colby Sawyer of Buffalo , Okla. and Roxanne Herbrich tied for first place, followed by a tie for second between Jess Little and the Hopping partnership and a tie for third between Ole Dahl of Texhoma, Okla. and Leslie Tarver of Shamrock.  In the pen of three division, Ole Dahl took first place, followed by the partnership of Clint, Cody and Clay Cooper of Matador in Second and Alayna Siebman of Childress in third.  Trent Cadra of Shamrock took first in live evaluation, followed by Blake Sizelove of Buffalo , Okla. in second and Justin Johnson in third. 

Junior Division Results

Matt Mellema of Dalhart was the overall winner in the Junior Division.  In the Junior Division, youngsters compete in the same four areas, vying for a plaque and $100 cash prize for first and a plaque for second. 

Matt Mellema took top honors in the written exam, followed by brother Tammo Mellema in second.  Hannah Fort of Dalhart gave the best oral presentation with Matt Mellema capturing second.  The partnership of Matt and Tammo Mellema had the top-scoring record book, followed by Tate Hopping of Memphis in second. 

In the carcass contest, Matt and Tammo Mellema captured top individual carcass and the partnership of James and Ryan Dahl of Texhoma , Okla. took second.   The Dahl partnership came back to win best pen of three honors with Michael Siebman of Childress taking second.  Top live evaluation honors went to Tera Carroll of Hereford with Clayton Fort of Dalhart winning second.  The top rookie award was captured by Tammo Mellema with Hannah Fort taking home second. 

Team Challenge Results

In the Team Challenge contest, Rice Consolidated school district at Altair won top overall honors with team comprised of Christian Schroeder, Andrew Varley and Whitney Williams.  Second place overall went to a Hooker, Okla. team of Seth Adams, Keysha James and Brenden Kachel.  Honors for third place overall went to a team from Hallettsville comprised of Robin Barnes, Ashley Schmidt and Stephen Tobola. 

In the written exam part of the contest, the Rice Consolidated team of Schroeder, Varley and Williams captured first, the Hallettsville team of Barnes, Schmidt and Tobola captured second and the Hooker team of Adams, James and Kachel took third. 

The live evaluation contest saw top honors go to a team from Texhoma , Okla. made up of Justin Edwards, Cody James and Justin James.  Second place went to a team from Hooker, Okla. of Anthony Jackson, Erin Russell and Kirby Ukens and third place went to another Texhoma team of Blake Perkins, Trevor Powers and Troy Shores .

"The future of the beef industry rests with our youth," said Travis Cook, TCFA market analyst and contest coordinator.  "Based on what I saw at this year's Junior Fed Beef Challenge, our future is in good hands indeed.  These are the best and the brightest kids going and they showed they have the intelligence and the work ethic to be successful in any endeavor they undertake." 

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