By Stephen Smoot
“Poultry is definitely something that Pendleton County is really good at,” shared Jessica Hoover, West Virginia University extension agent for the area.
While she could be referring to the raising of top quality chickens and turkeys, Hoover meant the passion, experience, and knowledge of Pendleton County youth who compete in poultry related contests.
On Nov. 20 and 21, Louisville, Kentucky, hosted the National 4-H Poultry and Egg Contest. Those in 4-H who had attained their 14th birthday by Jan. 1 of this year could compete to qualify in competitions against fellow contestants from around the nation.
“The overall objective,” said the website for the event, “is to offer national-level activities and contests designed to introduce participants to poultry and the poultry industry.”
Many months of preparation and hard work went into their success. Just like the sports teams that earned their way into the postseason this fall, winning starts with practice, practice, and then more practice.
Hoover explained that the team members would regularly hold one to two hour practices which “they tried to have pretty regularly.” Practices involved identifying parts, hands-on grading of carcasses, eggs, and live production hens. “They did a lot on their own, too” she added.
The hard work paid off when they carried away several awards from the West Virginia State 4-H Judging competition held last summer in Moorefield.
At the time of writing, the results of the competition had not been revealed. Hoover shared that “all felt really confident that they did well and learned a lot.”
The team of Lydia Heavner, Cole Harper, and Phoebe and Vivian Pownell is no stranger to regional agricultural competition. Heavner won grand champion bacon at last spring’s Future Farmers of America egg, ham, and bacon sale. Vivian Pownell’s dozen grade A eggs sold for $200.
The trip to western Kentucky included seeing other sights. Half of the team went to the state’s celebrated horse country around Lexington, Kentucky, and toured an equine hospital. Others visited an alpaca farm. All had the chance to see horse races at the world-famous Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby.
Like all agriculture related competitions, though, the greatest benefit does not come from winning the awards. Those who compete must have strong social and communication skills, be able to retain tremendous amounts of knowledge, and enjoy the lessons of traveling to a new place and doing new things.
Hoover stated that 10 years ago, she trod in these students’ shoes, competing in judging and other contests. Now, she is a successful farmer and extension agent.
These competitions, the mentorship and coaching needed to produce winning teams, and the lessons learned will help to provide Pendleton County with its next generation of productive farmers and agricultural leaders.
