A team of 4-H members from Morgan County claimed the top county awards at the 2015 State 4-H Meats Judging Contest held March 7 at the Meats Lab on the University of Illinois campus. During the contest, youth had to provide quality grading scores for beef, lamb and pork carcasses, as well as various cuts of meat.

"Participants also had to identify many different retail cuts, identifying the specie, wholesale cut and retail name," said Dan Jennings, U of I Extension state animal science educator.

Cody Hadden from Morgan County received the highest score on the day. Finishing in the top 10 were Mandy Jackson of Morgan County, second; Angela Madsen of Kankakee County, third; Amy Wyant of Livingston County, fourth; Tony Dupuis of Kankakee County, fifth; Sam Trainor of Livingston County, sixth; Cole Finnegan of Livingston County, seventh; Samantha Vaughn of Kankakee County, eighth; Zachary Price of Iroquois County, ninth; and Chase Tomhave of Morgan County, tenth.

Following Morgan County in team scores were Kankakee County 4-H members in second place and Livingston County 4-H members in third place.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Judy Mae Bingman, University of Illinois Extension Marketing and Communications Manager

Judy uses powerful words and photography to tell the Extension story. She is a skilled communication strategist and storyteller with demonstrated success in building teams and creating strong organizational brand identities that deepen Extension’s impact among key audiences, build brand loyalty, strengthen employee talent, and expand public engagement. She is a frequent conference presenter at the National Association of Extension 4-H Agents Conference and helps Extension staff across the nation tell compelling stories.