2005 Junior Beef Excellence Winners Announced

ARDMORE, Okla. — Ten south-central Oklahoma youths shared $12,500 in the Noble Foundation's 2005 Junior Beef Excellence Program, an annual contest designed to highlight the carcass merit of steers shown at junior livestock shows in nine south-central Oklahoma counties. Seventy-eight youths entered a record-high number of 86 steers in this year's event. Winners were announced March 31 during the awards program at the Southern Oklahoma Technology Center in Ardmore.

Levi Shelby of Madill 4-H entered this year's champion steer. Levi earned a $2,500 check and a custom designed winner's jacket. Cole Niblett, Tishomingo 4-H, had the second-place steer, taking home a $2,000 award.

The other winners were: 3rd – Jeremy Overby, Wilson, $1,500; 4th – Dakota Moss, Sulphur FFA, $1,250; 5th – Ty Labeth, Wilson FFA, $1,000; 6th – Colin Atteberry, Tishomingo FFA, $950; 7th – Julie McGill, Marietta FFA, $900; 8th – Kelly Whetstone, Lone Grove FFA, $850; 9th – Macheala Adkinson, Tishomingo 4-H, $800; 10th – Chase Willis, Marietta 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 $1,153.69, which divided by the average live weight of 1,222 pounds gives an equivalent live price of $94.40/hundred pounds.

"For the second year in a row, this is the highest price we have ever received for the steers," Ingram said. "It was nice to see the participants share in the rewards of a high cattle market. Their steers averaged $1.69 per hundredweight better than the industry average for live cattle during the week they were harvested."

"The top ten award-winning steers averaged $98.82 per hundred, which was $6.11 more than the industry average," he added.

One hundred-fourteen people, also a record number, 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 – Micah Alford of Tishomingo; Adult Men – Wallace Coppedge of Tishomingo; Adult Women – Diane Niblett of Tishomingo; Expert (previous adult division winners and Noble Foundation employees) – Shan Ingram of Ardmore.

Winners in each division received custom-monogrammed duffel bags and carrying cases.

This is the ninth year for the Junior Beef Excellence Program in its expanded format. Entrants must be from Carter, Garvin, Grady, 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 the Cargill Meat Solutions 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, retired OSU Extension animal foods specialist, assisted with the awards program and serves as contest official. Bill Harrison, a field representative for Alliance Programs with Cargill Meat Solutions, discussed how the contest cattle compared to industry averages and pointed out current issues facing the beef industry.

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:	Back Row (L-R) Kelly Whetstone, Dakota Moss, Julie McGill Front Row (L-R) Cole Niblett, Levi Shelby, Macheala Adkinson, Chase Willis

The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation (www.noble.org), headquartered in Ardmore, Okla., is a nonprofit organization conducting agricultural, forage improvement and plant biology research; providing grants to 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