EAGLE GROVE - 4-H members took to the other side of the show ring at the Wright County Fair, acting as judges rather than exhibitors.

It's an annual fair highlight - a livestock judging contest among members. The kids compete with one another for a shot at a trophy by correctly placing animals from best to worst and answering questions posed by professional judges.

As kids sat in the grandstands, other members trotted out livestock projects that were some of the best at the fair. Armed with pens, paper - and with only six minutes to observe - members tried their best to match wits with the judges.

"We want them to learn about different animals in general," Brad Nelson, Belmond-Klemme FFA advisor and organizer of this year's judging contest, said.

The fair's best cattle, sheep and swine were observed by the 4-H'ers who cast scrutinizing stares at the four-legged animals.

One member traveled from Franklin County to participate in the judging contest.

"I learned about this judging event and came up last year," Keller Suntken, of North West Franklin County 4-H Club, said, "and decided to come back."

Suntken attends several judging events throughout the year, including the Iowa State University Livestock Judging camp.

"I'm just really interested in livestock," 15-year-old Suntken said. "I've grown up on a farm and show cattle at the Franklin County Fair."

Sitting in the bleachers, Suntken pointed out some differences in the lambs that were paraded around the ring.

"With these market lambs, we're supposed to look at their muscle mass and how much meat they will produce at slaughter," Suntken said. "The two in the middle don't have as much flank or depth of body as the others on the ends."

Even with all that he knows, Suntken didn't do as well as he had hoped.

But that's part of the learning experience, Nelson said.

"As long as they learn something, the experience is worthwhile," he said. "This gives a cattle person a chance to walk away with better knowledge of sheep or swine and vice versa. In that sense, we're making them better consumers. Now when they go to the meat market, they have a better idea of where their meat is coming from."

After the members placed the livestock, a professional judge gave the 4-H'ers their opinions about the quality of the livestock.

For second-year member Ashlyn Mayo, of the Pleasant Progressors in Wright County, the experience was more about having fun with her fellow member Paige Watne.

"I just like doing it," said Mayo, who is showing cattle this year. "It's fun to see what all the animals look like."

For some of the older contestants, such as senior 4-H members Kelli Holmes and Rachel Martens, the livestock judging competition was a good way to pass the time as rain pounded down on top of the show barn.

"We did learn something," Holmes, an eighth-year member of the Dayton-Lake 4-H Club, said. "We learned about hog depth and muscle."

Holmes shows sheep, but had difficulty judging the familiar barnyard animals when they walked into the ring.

"I'm so used to handling them," Holmes said. "It's hard to judge the muscle depth when you can't go up and put your hands on them."

Martens had even more difficult time, since her specialty is horses and they weren't even a category.

"I don't know what to look for with cows, swine or sheep," Martens said. "That's why I sit by Kelli."

"We have a team effort going on," Holmes said.

Which is another way 4-H'ers help each other learn about the world of agriculture that they believe is important.

"The biggest thing with livestock judging is that is gives young women and men a chance to use their mind and put their own ideas of an animal's best qualities against the judges," Nelson said. "It's a chance to match wits against the judge. Sometimes you win, sometimes you don't. But no matter what there's something new to be learned."

Contact Lindsey Ory at editor@messengernews.net or (515) 573-2141.