OLDS — Young participants in Summer Synergy got a chance to undertake one of the important aspects of any livestock show: judging animals.
Summer Synergy is a venue to showcase the talents of youth in agriculture as well as to help them learn and improve their skills.
It’s run in cooperation the Olds Regional Exhibition, 4-H Alberta, the Calgary Stampede and provincial junior beef breed associations.
This year’s edition was held July 12-16 at the Olds Regional Exhibition grounds.
Several students closely examined a variety of livestock during the Multi Judging Contest in the Calouri Pavilion, presented by UFA.
Then, they lined up to give their assessments to Jayden Calvert, Miss Rodeo Canada.
Harris Kenway, 10, of Lethbridge, was among them. He judged sheep and cattle.
“I was judging livestock animals and then telling people what I thought about them,” he said during an interview with the Albertan.
Kenway said he liked being a livestock judge and might want to do so in the future.
“It’s just fun,” he said, “looking at all the animals and seeing which one’s the best.”
Navada Murray, 11, was another discerning livestock judge.
She lives in Consort, about 285 kilometres northeast of Olds.
“I did orals on yearling heifers and yearling ewes and I just placed steers, market heifers and rams,” she said.
Murray also found that job to be fun.
“You can judge the animals and everybody has a different opinion,” she said.