2010 District III Style Revue Contest

I had a great time at the District Style Revue this year; everyone did a great job. The Style Revue was held at the Wilson Theatre in Rupert Square, Rupert Idaho.
We were scored on; Posture and poise,well groomed appearance, Modeling of Outfit,Garment Presentation, Garment Construction,Pattern appropriate for Model, Fit of Garment, Choice of accessories, Color a Attractive on model, and effect of undergarments.

Thank You to All that work so hard to make the Style Revue A Great Contest and Give so Freely of their Time.
 

Here are a few pictures of the Contest.

Grading My Market Project Steers ( know what you are eating )

 Today I went to the Bates Custom Butchers and graded my two remaining 4-H steers.

Cindy Kinder the Extension Educator for Gooding County was my teacher.

To grade my beef we measured the size of the rib eye, back fat, and figure the kph fat, and you must have the carcass weight. 
These two beef graded prime minus and choice plus. my third beef graded prime plus.

Grades are based on the amount of marbling in the meat and the age of the animal. Marbling is the flecks and streaks of white fat you find distributed throughout the meat. In general, the higher the degree of marbling, the more tender, juicy, and flavorable the meat will be. Higher grade meats come at a higher cost.

Beef is best in flavor and texture when cattle are between 18 and 24 months old, so the grading favors younger animals.

Meat graders assign a yield grade to a carcass by evaluating:

1. the amount of external fat;
2. the hot carcass weight;
3. the amount of kidney, pelvic, and heart fat; and
4. the area of the ribeye muscle.

There are eight distinct grades of beef recognized by the USDA.

USDA Prime Beef

•  is the ultimate in tenderness, juiciness, and flavor.

USDA Choice Beef

Choice grade beef has less marbling than Prime, but is still of very high quality. This is the most popular grade of beef because it contains sufficient marbling for taste. 
Just over half of the beef graded each your earns a grade of Choice.

USDA Select beef

This is generally a lower priced grade of beef with less marbling than Choice. Select cuts of beef may vary in tenderness and juiciness.


USDA. In order of descending quality they are:

• Prime
• Choice
• Select
• Standard
• Commercial
• Utility
• Cutter
• Canner  

I got all my information from
http://meat.tamu.edu/beefgrading.html 
http://www.bbqreport.com/archives/barbecue/2006/03/02/understanding-the-usda-beef-grading-system/
and from
Cindy Kinder Extension Educator for Gooding County

for more information click the links above.

Eastern Idaho State Fair Livestock Judging Contest

Clipping Your Steers for Begainners

By No means am I a steer clipping expert; but when I started learning to clip and groom my steers I could not find a place to show me just the basics. So this year one of my goals was to learn to clip and fluff my steers for the show ring and I thought I might share what I learned with you.

This year I had three steers so when my Dad was showing me what he knew my Mom was taking pictures for me to share.

The most important thing you can do long before you start clipping is to wash and blow-dry your steer. Make sure that you comb and blow the hair forward.

Next you will what to apply a styling mousse for steers, and comb it in I use a rice brush to do this. This foam creates a thicker hair coat without matting the hair. Great for training the hair, show day grooming or clipping. Now let the mousse dry.

 Clipping the the head, I was told to clip the hair in the direction that the hair lays. Try to not to clip to short; When I did my first head I clipped it to short; if this happens don't worry just spray pink oil on and it won't look so bad. I found that you should clip the head at least six or seven days before the show ( just in case ).
Depending on the style you can leave the hair on the pole of you can remove it. I did both ways this year .
You may want to leave the hair on the pole until you are at the show to see what the style is at that time.

The Brisket is next; when clipping the brisket you clip  from the head and neck downward. try not to take off all the hair you what this to be clipped but look natural.

For the hoofs we clip the hair that lays on the hoof to clean them up a little. DO NOT Clip the hair on the legs.

Now that you have just the beginners basics  go to the watch and learn and watch the pro's clip and groom.

Red Angus do not have much hair in the summer so there is not much clipping to do; here is Munch he was my highest placing steer and graded prime plus.

this is  Pepper my Black Angus.

Remember you are trying to make your steers look the best that you can.

You will always what to follow the rules of the Show, Fair or Association that you are participating in.