Registration

To be eligible for district judging contests, each county must enter its teams by the announced entry deadline to enable proper planning.

Contestants and Eligibility

1. Each contestant must be an enrolled 4-H member during the current year. Youth shall represent the county in which they are enrolled.
2. Each county may bring as many Junior and Senior participants as they choose.  The Showmanship Contest will be held in conjunction with the Judging Contest. Each county is to provide leadsmen. A county may bring as many showmen as they wish. Because the majority of the animals used in the contest are cows, leadspersons must be at least 12 years old. This is a safety consideration. A county must send at least two leads people.
3. An individual who has participated in the National 4-H Dairy Judging Contest (Madison, WI) is not eligible to compete again at Madison or any other 4-H contest as part of a team. Any individual who has competed at Harrisburg or Louisville may not repeat at the same contest but may compete at Madison or the other 4H contest.  Individuals who are no longer eligible to compete as part of a team due to previous national competition may judge as an individual for the experience, but their scores will not count as part of the team nor will they be counted as a member of the county team.    *** IF there is a question regarding the eligibility for the contest, contact Dei Fleary-Simmons at the Wisconsin 4-H Office.  
4. A 4-H member who is participating in or has completed post-secondary (university, college, junior college, technical school) course work in Dairy Cattle Judging or Dairy Cattle Evaluation is not eligible.  A 4-H member who has participated in a post-secondary judging contest is not eligible.
5. AGE REQUIREMENTS:  Divisions: Junior – Age 8-13 as of January 1, 2021; Senior – Age 14-18 as of January 1, 2021.  WI 4-H members that are in the 13th grade and have reached their 19th birthday prior to January 1, 2021 are eligible to compete at the AASD contests and state contest as individuals but not as a member of a team. Youth must be in or completed 3^rd grade, 8 year old Cloverbuds cannot participate.
6. No contestants shall be allowed to take any notes, books, or printed materials into the contest.  (This includes, but is not limited to the PDCA Scorecard, note cards with scorecard breakdown on them, cow parts, etc.)  Contestants may bring a clipboard and blank paper and definitely should bring a pencil. A packet of judging cards and note cards will be provided.
7. While the contest is in progress, there will be no communications among the contestants, or between a contestant and anyone else, except the squad leader and contest superintendent. Failure to comply with this rule may result in disqualification of involved contestants and teams. Coaches around the ringside are cautioned to hold discussions to a minimum.
8. No handling of the animals by the contestants will be permitted.

Determination of Ratings

50 points shall be possible for placings in each of the eight classes (if possible, six cow classes and two heifer classes).  Fifty points shall be possible for each of the three sets of oral reasons for senior judges.  Twenty-five points shall be possible for each of the two sets of Type Analysis Questionnaires for junior judges.  Reasons and TAQ’s will only be given in cow classes.  TAQ scores will be included in the individual’s final contest score.  The two sets of TAQ’s will be given to the contestants during two of the cow classes.  A correct answer to each of the five questions will be worth 5 points.  If there is a close second choice, 3 points may be awarded for the second best answer.

Time and Reasons

Contestants will have a total of 15 minutes to evaluate each class.   Ring procedure will be as follows:

Circle the cattle clockwise Head to tail Side by side (Centered) Circle the cattle counter-clockwise Side by side (Centered)	3 minutes 3 3 3 3
TOTAL	15 minutes for each class

All seniors will be required to give three sets of oral reasons at AASD and four sets of oral reasons at the state contest.  Two minutes are allowed for oral reasons per class.  Contestants will be expected to give oral reasons without using notes.  When grading reasons, official judges will consider accuracy, poise, confidence, delivery, and forcefulness of presentation.  Contestants who use their notes during oral reasons will be scored on a basis of 40 points maximum.

Selection of Teams for the Wisconsin 4-H State Dairy Judging Contest

1. The top 4 Junior and Senior teams from each Area Animal Science Days will be invited to the State Contest.
2. Two additional Senior teams will be invited based on the following criteria: Size of area contests, Oral reasons scores, Point breaks in the overall team scores
3. A county team, Junior or Senior, must be comprised of the top three scoring individuals from the county team at Area Animal Science Days (AASD).  The 4th team member (alternate) may be selected or designated by the county AND must have participated in an Area Animal Science Day Contest.  If there is a valid reason (approved by the State 4-H Office) that one of the first three placing individuals needs to be replaced, this substitution must come from the same AASD contest that the team earned the right to compete in the state contest.  The replacement must be the next highest scoring individual.  If there is a substitution of any of the top placing three (3) team members, the team score is automatically recalculated using the replacement’s score.  Individuals: In the Senior age group, the two highest placing individuals at each AASD not designated on a team that is already invited to the State Contest will be invited to participate.
4. The high Senior team at the state contest will represent Wisconsin at the National 4-H Dairy Cattle Judging Contest held at World Dairy Expo in Madison, WI. The second-place Senior team will compete at the Pennsylvania All-American Invitation Dairy Cattle Judging Contest in Harrisburg, PA. A third Senior team consisting of the four high-scoring individuals at the state contest who are not on the first or second-place team and are eligible to compete will represent Wisconsin at the North American Invitational Dairy Judging Contest in Louisville, Kentucky.  No other teams will be allowed to participate in a regional or national contest.
5. At the state contest, no contestant shall wear pins, badges, or other marks of identification that may reveal his or her identity or that of the area they are representing.  If a contestant chooses to wear a shirt with county identification on it, they will be asked to wear a sticker over this identification during the contest so that they may not be identified by contest officials.
6. Participants will judge 10 classes at the state dairy judging contest.  Senior participants will give four sets of oral reasons and junior participants will answer twenty Type Analysis Questions (TAQ).  Junior participants will take a cow parts quiz at the state contest.  This quiz will be scored separately from the judging scores. *Junior Reasons* Junior reasons will take place for junior participants.  Reasons will be taken by coaches at the contest and will be given as a team.  These coaches will rank the teams and awards will be given.  THESE ARE OPTIONAL.

National Contest Qualifiers

If a team qualifies for a national contest, they must take the top three individuals from the state contest to the national event.  The fourth individual may be any member from that county who competed during the current year at the state judging contest and/or Area Animal Science Days.

Questions about team selection or rules? Contact the State 4-H Office at (608)262-1222.

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