Assistant Professor Kyle Rozeboom’s Livestock Merchandising class presented the 2003 UTM Little International Livestock Showmanship Competition, Nov 5 in the Agriculture Complex.

This was the fourth annual competition for Rozeboom’s class. The class was responsible for all the aspects of the competition, from sponsors to awards. More than 25 sponsors contributed a combined total of $1,200, and more than 100 students competed in this year’s events. The animals shown included cattle, horses, sheep and swine.

“The class I teach through organizing and running this show gives students experience to find out what it takes to promote and publicize livestock showmanship,” Rozeboom said.

There were two categories, professional and amateur. Professionals are students who have shown their chosen animal previously in organizations such as 4H and FFA, and amateurs are students who have never shown their specific animals. One professional teamed up with two or three amateurs to educate them about the animal they would be showing. Rozeboom says most professional students chose animals they grew up with.

Amateur swine reserve champion Brianna Strausser, an Agriculture major from Chapel Hill, said, “This competition is a learning experience. I grew up with dairy cows so I thought it would be challenging to show sheep.”

Students were judged on their ability to effectively show the animal, their ability to make the animal look its best, holds on the animal, knowledge of the animal and how they maintained the animal during the past three weeks. All of the judgment is based on the student’s ability with the animal, not the animal’s natural appearance.

All of the animals were property of UTM and sheep, cattle and swine were mostly under two years of age.

All winners received banners and ribbons and the overall winners also received belt buckles. If you are interested in participating in a future UTM Little International Livestock Showmanship Competition, contact Rozeboom at 587-7936 or at rozeboom@utm.edu.