News release, May 8, 2000, effective immediately.
For media inquiries, contact Caroline Booth Lara, Communications Specialist, (580) 224-6379.
  email: cblara@noble.org

Local Youth Win Big With Beef Entries

ARDMORE - Comanche student August Reyher, Stephens County, was the big winner among the 10 top Southern Oklahoma contestants earning big money in the annual Noble Foundation Junior Beef Excellence Program during an awards and education program recently.

Reyher won $2,500 for his first-place beef entry.

In all, students from five of eight participating counties split $12,500 in Noble Foundation prize money for their entries. Sixty entries were weighed in for the competition.

Others placing in the contest and their winnings are: 2nd, Chris Garone, Tishomingo 4-H, $2,000; 3rd, Ginger White, Wilson 4-H, $1,500; 4th, Roger Tuley, Wynnewood FFA, $1,250; 5th, Cole Johnson, Sulphur FFA, $1,000; 6th, Ashley Liston, Tishomingo 4-H, $950; 7th, Lacy Mann, Sulphur FFA, $900; 8th, Jennifer Maxwell, Bray-Doyle FFA, $850; 9th, Natalie Enderby, Dickson, $800; and 10th, Gary Idleman, Wilson FFA, $750.

This is the second year for Johnson to place in the top 10 circle. He placed fourth in last year's competition.

"The overall quality of the winners has improved," said Shan Ingram, NF livestock specialist and program co-coordinator. "It made for a strong competition."

Winning the categories in the Live Animal Evaluation Contest were Mann, FFA Division; Wallace Coppedge, Tishomingo, Adult Division; Phil Whetstone, Springer, Adult Expert Division; and Jake Vietzke, Pauls Valley, 4-H, who won the division for the second consecutive year. The four winners received belt buckles.

There were 76 live animal "judges" in the competition this year, up by 14 from last year, said Fred Schmedt, NF agricultural economist and co-coordinator of the beef contest.

"The addition of the Live Animal Evaluation Contest makes participants aware of the difficulty in trying to judge the true value of beef cattle by just looking at the 'cover,'" said Schmedt.

During the awards presentation and educational program, entrants and their parents heard presentations from Dr. Fred Ray, animal foods specialist with Oklahoma State University's Cooperative Extension Service.

This was the fourth year for the expanded contest to include the seven counties around Carter County - Garvin, Jefferson, Johnston, Love, Marshall, Murray, and Stephens. From 1988-96, NF sponsored the contest exclusively for Carter County contestants.

All animals entered in the beef contest must have been shown earlier in an area county junior livestock show. The entry animals were then transported to Ardmore for weighing before being sent to the Excel packing plant in Plainview, Texas.

Information about next year's NF Junior Beef Excellence Program can be obtained from coordinators Fred Schmedt or Shan Ingram by calling the Noble Foundation in Ardmore at (580) 223-5810.
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