Effectively evaluating breeding and market animals is highly important in the animal industry. Judging is an art developed through patient study and long practice.
4-H'ers interested in dairy, general livestock (beef, meat goat, sheep and swine), horses, poultry and rabbits can become good judges by knowing:
- The parts of the animal and their locations.
- Which parts are most important for meat and breeding stock production.
- Making keen observations.
- Comparing the animal to the ideal.
- Weighing the good and bad points of each animal.
Check with your county/tribal community for local animal judging contests. The following information is for participants at the state fair.
For all participants
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Team coaches must register all judging teams and individuals for the state judging contest.
Registration is completed online and due by the individual county’s state fair final registration deadline.
All 4-H’ers participating in the state judging contest must also register as a judging contest participant on the state fair registration form 1 and pay the 4-H state fair program fee.
All adults serving as a judging team coach or chaperone must also register on the state fair registration form 2. Adults do not need to pay a program fee unless they are staying overnight in 4-H housing.
Forms 1 and 2 are available from your local Extension office.
- 4-H'ers do not need to be enrolled in any specific project to participate on a judging team.
- Contestants not present at the start of the contest may participate but will not be eligible for awards.
- All 4-H'ers who are members of a judging team must:
- Have completed 6th grade, but not be more than one year out of high school.
- Have not had their 20th birthday the year of the contest.
- Have not competed in a national 4-H contest (dairy in Madison, Wisconsin, or general livestock in Louisville, Kentucky).
- Members must have had practice judging sessions prior to the state fair contest. County contests do not count as practice.
Read state fair contest details in the 2023 rules and premiums for livestock exhibits.
Team divisions
- Intermediate teams - Participants have completed grades 6-8.
- Senior teams - Participants have completed grade 6 to one-year post-high school.
Team requirements
- Each team may have three or four members. If four members judge, the three highest scores will be used to determine the team score.
- Counties unable to compete with a team of at least three members may enter one or two individual participants in the senior and intermediate divisions who will be eligible for individual awards only.
- A county may participate as a part of a multi-county team or form its own team but may not have both a county and a multi-county team in the same age division.
- For example, a county may have a county senior team and a multi-county intermediate team.
- All 4-H'ers within an age group from one county must be part of the same county or multi-county program.
- If the combining counties have three or more members in each county combining within an age division, they must judge as separate counties.
- If one of the counties combining has fewer than three members in one age division, they can judge with the other county they are combining with as a multi-county team.
For clarification, read the Minnesota 4-H position statement on multi-county teams (revised May 2025).
Please review prior to the contest
- Scantron score sheet instructions
- Sample score sheet (PDF)
- This sample score sheet is for practice and demonstration only. You must use a real score sheet for the actual competition.
Dairy judging contest
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Team requirements
- Multi-county teams may be formed by age division.
- Teams must have had practice judging sessions together prior to the state fair contest. County contests do not count as practice.
- All 4-H’ers within an age group in a county must be part of the same county or multi-county program.
- All 4-H’ers who are members of a dairy judging team must:
- Have not had their 20th birthday the year of the contest.
- Have not competed in the national 4-H dairy judging contest in Madison, Wisconsin.
- All 4-H’ers compete for individual awards and must:
- Have completed 6th grade, but not be more than one year out of high school.
- Have not participated in or completed post-secondary coursework in dairy cattle judging or dairy cattle evaluation.
- Have not participated in a dairy judging contest for post-secondary students.
Resources for team support
- Information for contest coaches is available yearly.
- 2024 dairy judging coaches letter - posted June 2024
- 2024 county dairy judging contests - posted July 1, 2024
- Dairy state judging contest final details - posted Aug. 2, 2024
- Coaches letter with final reminders - posted Aug. 12, 2024
- Grading Oral Reasons
- Dairy judging coaches meeting on Aug. 10, 2023 (Google Slides)
- Please review and share with participants to prepare for the contest:
- Scantron score sheet instructions
- Sample score sheet (PDF)
- This sample score sheet is for practice and demonstration only. You must use a real score sheet for the actual competition.
- Scantron directions for dairy judging
National contest trips will be awarded as follows
- The first eligible senior team will represent Minnesota at the National 4-H Dairy Cattle Judging Contest in Madison, Wisconsin.
- 4-H'ers must have passed their 14th but not their 19th birthday on January 1 of the current year.
- Contestants may judge in this contest only once.
- The second eligible senior team will represent Minnesota at the All-American Dairy Show in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
- 4-H'ers must not have passed their 19th birthday on January 1 of the current year.
- There is no minimum age requirement.
- 4-H'ers may not have participated in this contest or the Madison contest.
- The team representing Minnesota at the Louisville, Kentucky contest will be comprised of the high-score individuals in the senior contest who:
- Are not members of the two teams representing Minnesota at Madison or Harrisburg.
- Have not previously competed in the Louisville contest. Note: They may have competed in the Madison and/or Harrisburg contests in previous years.
- Must have turned 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 or 19 years old during the year of the contest.
- Are not judging in the current year's National FFA Dairy Evaluation contest.
- Are not participating in the North American Invitational 4-H Dairy Quiz Bowl (Louisville) contest (due to timing conflicts).
To be eligible for national contests
- 4-H'ers must not have participated in:
- Post-secondary coursework in judging or selection in the subject area of their national 4-H competition.
- Training for a post-secondary judging team in the subject area of their national 4-H competition.
- All listed team members must meet the age guidelines for that specific contest (including not turning 20 in the year of the contest). If not, the trip will be passed to the next highest-placing team meeting the requirements.
- 4-H'ers must not have competed in the national 4-H dairy contest in Madison, Wisconsin.
- Individuals not eligible for national contests may compete as individuals in the state contest.
General livestock judging contest
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Team requirements
- Multi-county teams may be formed by age division.
- All 4-H’ers within an age group in a county must be part of the same county or multi-county program.
- Teams must have had practice judging sessions together prior to the state fair contest. County contests do not count as practice.
- Each county or multi-county delegation will determine how youth will be arranged between teams, as well as individuals.
Resources for team support
- Information for contest coaches is available yearly.
- Please review and share with participants to prepare for the contest:
- Scantron score sheet instructions
- Sample score sheet (PDF)
- This sample score sheet is for practice and demonstration only. You must use a real score sheet for the actual competition.
National contest trips will be awarded as follows
- The first eligible team will represent Minnesota at the National 4-H Livestock Judging Contest held at the North American International Livestock Exposition in Louisville, Kentucky.
- The second eligible team may select to represent Minnesota at either the American Royal (Kansas City, Missouri) or at the National Western Stock Show (Denver, Colorado).
- The third eligible team will be awarded the remaining trip.
To be eligible for national contests
- 4-H'ers must not have participated in:
- Post-secondary coursework in judging or selection in the subject area of their national 4-H competition.
- Training for a post-secondary judging team in the subject area of their national 4-H competition.
- All listed team members must meet the age guidelines for that specific contest. If not, the trip will be passed to the next highest-placing team meeting the requirements.
- Individuals not eligible for national contests may compete as individuals in the state contest.
Poultry judging contest
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The contest is held on Friday at 1 p.m. of the livestock encampment in the Poultry Judging Arena.
Judging contest classes will include ready-to-cook carcasses, parts identification, eggs (interior and exterior quality), production hens and oral reasons.
Participation requirements
- All youth are eligible to participate.
- Youth do not need to be exhibiting, but must sign up on State Fair Registration Form 1 through their county registration process. See the state fair premium book for more information.
- Contestants do not need to be enrolled in poultry projects and are not required to have conducted a poultry project in the current year.
National 4-H Poultry and Egg Conference
The top five contestants eligible for national competition (14 years of age as of Jan. 1 of current year) may represent Minnesota at the National 4-H Poultry and Egg Conference in Kentucky in November.
The National 4-H Poultry Judging Contest Manual provides more information.