The Live Animal Evaluation Contest is open to the public and is divided into five divisions: 4-H (youth), FFA (youth), men, women and expert (Foundation employees and past adult winners).

In the contest, participants will evaluate five live steers and estimate their carcass characteristics. It takes most participants about 30 minutes to complete the evaluation. Each participant's estimates are compared to the actual measurements. Scorecards will be submitted on the day of the contest, and winners will be announced when the carcass data is returned.

Individuals with the best estimate in each division will be awarded a prize during the awards program on Thursday, March 31, starting at 6:30 p.m. at the Southern Oklahoma Technology Center located two miles east of Ardmore on Sam Noble Parkway (Highway 199, just east of the Noble Foundation).

The Live Animal Evaluation Contest will get underway at PDF at 9 a.m. and concludes at 11:30 a.m. To get to PDF, take exit 33 off I-35 and go west about 2 miles on Prairie Valley Road to the four-way stop. Turn right (north) on King's Road go about 1¼ miles, then turn left (west) on Noble Foundation road and go ½ mile to PDF.

To see the results of last year's contest, go to http://www.noble.org/Ag/JrBeef/2004/LiveAnimalEvaluation/index.html on the Web. For more information, call the Foundation at (580) 223-5810.

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The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, headquartered in Ardmore, Okla., is a non-profit organization conducting agricultural, forage improvement, 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