WILMINGTON, Ohio – Billed as among the first in the nation each year and the largest east of the Mississippi, the Wilmington College Aggies’ 66th annual Judging Contest attracted roughly 1,400 high school students from Ohio and three neighboring states who braved a pouring rain and dense fog to hone their skills in agronomy and judging equine, dairy and general livestock. The event is for students who are engaged in 4-H, vocational agriculture and FFA.

The event was held at the Champion Expo Center on the grounds of the Clark County Fairgrounds and hosted participants from Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky.

“This event is growing and growing, and we haven’t found a number that we can’t handle yet,” said Aggies President Justin Beckner, a senior from Somerville, Ohio. “A lot of these participants will go on to work in some field in agriculture, but some might go to a junior college or other school where they might become actual livestock judges.

“The Judging Contest’s success year after year centers upon the quality livestock secured for the event coupled with the distinctness that it’s put on by college students. The Wilmington College students secure the animals, organize the logistics and get the word out to Ohio and neighboring states’ schools about the event.

“The contest represents a real-life application and a hands-on learning experience for both the high school students and Wilmington College’s agriculture students who stage the event.”

Beckner added that “participants use their judging skills that they fine-tuned at previous Wilmington College judging events, county fairs and state fairs.

“The most important thing for me was to make sure the students were served to the best of our ability,” Beckner said, noting he’s pleased with the quality of the competition the Aggies staged again this year.

The Judging Contest impressed Beckner when he was a high school student and went a long way (complemented by encouragement from his aunt, 2002 graduate Kari Beckner Roberts) toward leading him to Wilmington College.

“What attracted me is it’s a very impressive competition with quality livestock, but the big draw was it’s put on by college students,” Beckner said. “A group of 19 to 22-year-olds putting on this contest for 1.600 competitors….truly amazing.”

Acing the Judging Contest is almost impossible, Beckner said. “We’ve had some really good scores and there’s some really talented kids who come to this competition. We’ve had plenty of students finish at 90 percent or higher.”

The two-plus hour judging event tests competitors’ skills with an assortment of livestock as well as agronomy. Students are given evaluations sheets, a few pencils and a clipboard before entering the show arena. Talking is prohibited and the only sound may be the grunts from a pig or the shuffling of horse hooves. No cell phones are permitted in the arena and silence is mandatory of these teens 

“If there’s talking at all that’s reason for disqualification from the judging contest, and that’s a big deal around here,” Beckner said. “It’s insanely quite during this two-hour competition.”

Alyssa Oates, of the Huntington PRCTC FFA program in Ross County, was excited to take her 12 students to the competition.

“We use an event like this one to show the students there are more career opportunities out there,” Oates said. “We’re located in the hills of southern Ohio and competitions like these are rare in our area of the state.”

Oates judged equine herself at the collegiate level. This is her first year as the school’s FFA adviser.

“Advisers like me can tell the students what to expect from an event like this, but until they get into that arena, they’re going to get real nervous,” she said. “We expect to attend next year. After a few times judging they’ll become more relaxed.”

New this year, drones hovered both the inside and outside arenas, giving off-site spectators an idea of what was going on.

The Aggies’ Judging Contest is Wilmington College’s largest student-run event and is named in memory of Harold Thirey, a long-time agriculture professor and Aggies’ adviser who died unexpectedly in 2021.

Agriculture constitutes the largest academic area at Wilmington College. The school’s Bachelor of Science in Agriculture degree program features hands-on learning experience on the College Farm and other learning laboratory sites outside the classroom.

The agriculture program features concentrations in agricultural business, agronomy, animal science, equine business management, agricultural communications, agricultural education and a new concentration in resource conservation & regenerative agriculture. Wilmington College also offers an ag-related major concentration in food policy and agriculture advocacy housed under political science. Related academic minors include agriculture, equine studies and sustainability.