Tuttle students to judge livestock in Scotland

TUTTLE — Four Oklahoma livestock judging champions will travel to Scotland in the summer, where they will represent the United States in an international livestock judging competition.

Tuttle FFA livestock judging team members Brayden Johnson, Gunnar Norvell, Tristan Gambill and Jarrod Halphen will compete at the Royal Highland International Livestock Judging Contest June 22-25 in Edinburgh. The team qualified after winning the National FFA Livestock Evaluation Career Development Event in Indianapolis last year.

Tuttle FFA coach C.L. McGill, who will accompany the team to Scotland, said after winning contests in Oklahoma, Kansas, Minnesota and Indiana, the team is excited to represent the country at the international contest and expects to do well.

“Their knowledge of livestock and their ability to correctly judge the livestock in front of them sets them apart,” McGill said.

The team will judge livestock in Scotland and Ireland and tour farms and historic sites to learn about differences in agriculture overseas, McGill said.

McGill said the team has spent a lot of time honing its skills and preparing for the trip, and winning the Royal Highlands contest would be a reflection of the team’s hard work.

“Learning how to judge animals takes time and a lot of practice,” he said.

“They judge cattle, sheep, swine and goats, and at the national contest they take a test over the industry, do a marketing activity and genetic activity, and give four sets of oral reasons. There’s no way to say exactly, but a lot of time is spent working on the delivery of oral reasons in the class.”

The trip will cost about $16,000. The team has raised all but about $3,000, McGill said. Anyone interested in helping with the cost of the trip can make a donation to Tuttle FFA by calling Tuttle High School at 381-2605.