ABOUT
The Ohio State ATI Intercollegiate Dairy Cattle Judging Team competes against other 2-year and post-secondary universities and colleges in traditional and practical dairy cattle judging contests. The team typically competes in contests at the Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield, MA; the Pennsylvania All-American Dairy Show in Harrisburg, PA; World Dairy Expo in Madison, WI, and the North American International Livestock Exposition in Louisville, KY. Some years the team may also compete in the NACTA (North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture) contest which rotates at various locations throughout the United States. The format of each contest is different, but typically students will rank animals in placing classes and give oral reasons at each contest. At World Dairy Expo there is a practical contest that includes linear evaluation, a registered heifer class with pedigrees, a commercial heifer class with herd information, and a mating recommendation class.
All Ohio State ATI students are eligible to be team members … students from all majors can participate with the team (you do not have to be a dairy major student). The minimum requirements are 1) a student in good standing (2.0 or higher cumulative GPA), 2) a strong interest in dairy cattle judging, and 3) a willingness to practice and improve your dairy cattle judging skills. A minimum of 4 students are needed to have a team each year … 8 to 10 students is even better as 8 students from each college can compete at some of the contests.
An announcement via email is sent to all ATI students in December inviting students interested in participating with the team to attend an informational/organizational meeting. Practices are held during spring semester, summer term, and autumn semester to prepare for the contests held during autumn semester.
The Ohio State ATI Intercollegiate Dairy Cattle Judging Team has been very successful. The team usually (over 90% of the time) places as one of the top 5 teams at World Dairy Expo. World Dairy Expo is considered the national contest. The team has placed first 3 times in the traditional contest and 3 times in the practical contest at World Dairy Expo. The team has been invited to participate in the International Dairy Cattle Judging Tour in Europe four times based on their placing in the traditional contest at World Dairy Expo. The International Dairy Cattle Judging Tour is a 2-week tour to Scotland, England, Ireland, France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and Germany with judging competitions in Scotland and Ireland or Luxembourg.
