Media advisory issued April 9, 2003, effective immediately.
For media inquiries, contact Caroline Booth Lara, Communications Specialist, (580) 224-6379.
  email: cblara@noble.org.

2003 Junior Beef Excellence Program Winners Announced

ARDMORE, Okla. — The Noble Foundation announced the winners of the 2003 Junior Beef Excellence Program during a March 31 awards presentation at the Southern Oklahoma Technology Center in Ardmore. The annual contest is designed to highlight the carcass merit of steers shown at junior livestock shows in eight south-central Oklahoma counties. Fifty-five youths entered 63 steers in this year's event.

Josh Hartin of Madill 4-H entered this year's champion steer. Joshua earned a $2,500 check which was presented during the awards program on March 31 at the Southern Oklahoma Technology Center. Hartin will also receive a custom designed winner's jacket.

Jessica Maxwell, a Bray-Doyle 4-H'er, had the second-place steer, taking home a $2,000 award.

The other winners were: 3rd - Seth Cleary, Lindsey 4-H, $1,500; 4th - Jordan Burris, Ringling FFA, $1,250; 5th - Taylor Sparks, Lone Grove 4-H, $1,000; 6th - Barrett Butler, Ringling 4-H, $950; 7th - Jennifer Larson, Sulphur FFA, $900; 8th - Kelly Whetstone, Lone Grove FFA, $850; 9th - Jennifer Larson, Sulphur FFA, $800; 10th - Sarah Coffey, Davis 4-H, $750.

The contest steers are priced on a grid, meaning they are sold on their own merit instead of on the average. Shan Ingram, education and special projects manager at the Noble Foundation, said that the average total price for a contest steer was $932.78, which divided by the average live weight of 1199 gives an equivalent live price of $77.80/hundred pounds.

"That price was above the live market price of $76 for the week the steers were harvested," Ingram said. "If you take the top 49 out of the 63 total steers, the equivalent live price rises to $79.72 per hundredweight. The top ten received a price of $81.69 per hundredweight."

"We avoided all discounts on weight and yield grade, so all in all these were very good cattle," he added.

A record number of people, 86 in all, competed in this year's Live Animal Evaluation Contest, which was held at the Junior Beef Excellence Program delivery. Participants judged five live steers and estimated the attributes that affect their beef market value. Scorecards were submitted the day of the contest, and the winners in the four divisions were announced during the awards ceremony.

The first place winners were: 4-H - Taylor Sparks of Lone Grove; FFA - Lauren Higgins of Turner; Adult - Jack Maxwell of Marlow; Expert (previous adult division winners and Noble Foundation employees) - Dale Rich of Ringling.

Winners in each division will receive a custom championship jacket.

This is the eighth year for the Junior Beef Excellence Program in its expanded format. Entrants must be from Carter, Garvin, Jefferson, Johnston, Love, Marshall, Murray or Stephens counties, and all animals must have been shown in a county junior livestock show. The steers are delivered to Ardmore, weighed in, and commingled for two days before being sent to Excel Corporation's plant in Plainview, Texas.

Members of the Junior Beef Committee are Tracy Cumbie, Ingram, Ryan Reuter and Fred Schmedt, all of the Noble Foundation, and Leland McDaniel, Carter County Extension agent. Dr. Fred Ray, Extension animal foods specialist, assisted with the awards program and serves as contest official.

To learn more about next year's program, call the Noble Foundation at (580) 223-5810 or access Junior Beef Excellence Program information on the Foundation's Web site at www.noble.org/Ag/Jrbeef.

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Photo:

Cutline information: Back row — Seth Cleary, Kelly Whetstone, Josh Hartin, Jordan Burris, Jennifer Larson; Front row — Taylor Sparks, Sarah Coffey, Barrett Butler, Jessica Maxwell

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The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, headquartered in Ardmore, Okla., is a non-profit organization conducting agricultural, forage biotechnological, and plant biology research; providing grants to numerous non-profit charitable, educational and health organizations; and assisting farmers and ranchers through educational and consultative agricultural programs.

To learn more, visit the Noble Foundation Web site at http://www.noble.org.

More news releases available at www.noble.org/Press_Release