On a cool, crisp autumn morning on Oct. 13, high school students from across the Granite State—members of the National FFA Organization (formerly Future Farmers of America)—gathered to compete in an annual interscholastic competition held at the University of New Hampshire. Four interscholastic competitions were taking place that day, including the Dairy Cattle Evaluation, Forages (evaluating grasses, silage and other forage food), Forestry and Horticulture. The 78 students standing outside the Fairchild Dairy Teaching and Research Center, part of the New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station, were participating in the dairy competition. While waiting to begin, they talked and caught up with each other, many of them wearing their official FFA jackets emblazoned with their school’s name across the back.
Maria Vanderwoude, executive director of the Granite State Association of FFA, attended this event for the first time in 1976, when she was a freshman in high school, and she was excited to be attending again. In 1976, the annual competition was already a well-established tradition that included gathering for a chicken barbeque in UNH’s Putnam Hall and watching a football game on campus afterwards, she remembers. Later on, the event was moved to a school-day to increase attendance.
Regina Smick-Attisano, who recently retired as an associate professor in the natural resources and the environment department at UNH, coordinates the fall and spring FFA interscholastic events hosted by the UNH College of Life Sciences and Agriculture. She says the event has taken place at UNH for more than four decades.
"The career events dovetail nicely with the what the college has to offer as well," added Smick-Attisano.
The two main FFA interscholastic events for Granite Staters are held in the fall and spring. Additionally, FFA members participate in the Deerfield Fair, state conventions, leadership training, and more. Fall events, or “Career Development Events” as they’re referred to, typically occur in October and include judged events in dairy, foraging, horticulture and forestry. Applied Animal Science program coordinator Andrew Conroy, a professor of agriculture, nutrition, and food systems at UNH, oversaw the dairy competition on Oct. 13. This portion of the interscholastics encompassed a dairy management exam, pedigree class, dairy judging and an oral reasons/presentation event.
By 9:30 a.m., the students gathered in Cole Hall for the exam. They were tested on their dairy industry facts, terminologies and definitions. Next was pedigree judging. Each student rated the same four cows from the most desirable to the least desirable based on their traits listed, such as their Milk Production record, udder composite (UDC), foot and leg composite (FLC), productive life (PL), net merit (NM$) and other traits.
By 10 a.m., the students moved to the Fairchild dairy farm, where they were greeted by members of the UNH Dairy Club and Animal Science program. These UNH students helped prepare cattle for showing and judging at the competition, picking out the cows to show to each age group, clipping (shaving) them and washing them. There were three classes of cows to judge: Holstein yearling heifers, Holstein two-year cows, and Holstein four-year cows.
All 78 FFA students, plus their advisors and teachers, stood in a large circle outside the dairy barn while four UNH students walked the cows from the first age class inside the ring of students. The FFA students have 12 minutes to judge each class of cows and rank them from 1 (most ideal) to 4 (least ideal) based on physical characteristics alone.
Lastly, most FFA students in the dairy contest participated in oral reasons, stating their cases for why they ranked each of the cows in the four-year Holsteins class in the positions they chose. After everyone has competed, students’ individual scores are added up. The top four scores from each school are combined and the winning school announced. Students in the winning school receive a trophy and banner and can participate in a national FFA competition.
These state FFA events offer students the chance to learn about the dairy industry, agriculture and veterinary medicine. Many enjoy the opportunity to explore the different career paths, build their network and learn more about the Animal Science programs offered at UNH.
Best of luck at nationals!
