Youth News
Purebred Gilt Judge Al Schminke Reflects on His Experience at 2019 OYE
Mon, 18 Mar 2019 08:26:25 CDT
Once all the selections were done- Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays caught up with the Lead Judge for the Purebred Gilts at the 2019 Oklahoma Youth Expo- Al Schminke of Iowa. Schminke is one of the leading swine judges in the US- especially in the Junior Livestock Show circuit and is active in not just judging but also raising show pigs.
He and his wife operate Schminke Genetics in Van Horne, Iowa selling breeding stock and show pigs, along with a sheep operation, selling show pig and market lamb projects throughout the United States. They sell semen on the Chester White boars in their stud into purebred and commercial operations.
Schminke praised the quality of the gilts he judged on Friday and Saturday- and was also very high on the 4-H and FFA members that paraded their hogs in front of him at the top of the hill- the name given to the main show ring where the top gilts in each class are shown after they make it through the sifting process.
Listen to Hays and Schminke by clicking on the LISTEN BAR below- as they talk about the type of gilt that he was looking for- how those gilts compare to what the commercial hog industry is interested in and how the show experience is a tremendous teacher to the young people who raise and show the livestock that are their projects in both 4-H and FFA.
Our Coverage of the 2019 Oklahoma Youth Expo is once again a service of ITC Great Plains, Your Energy Superhighway- learn more about this high voltage, transmission only utility and their commitment to the communities they serve which is the cornerstone of their business-click here for their website.
Reports will be heard daily on great radio stations that cover Oklahoma and that are a part of the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network- on the internet- our reports of the 2019 OYE can be found on the Blue Green Gazette page- available here. We will be adding pictures daily to our official 2019 OYE Album of Photos on FLICKR, found here.
For more information about the Oklahoma Youth Expo, click here for the home page of the OYE website.
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