The University of Florida hosted the Florida FFA State HS Livestock Evaluation and Selection Career Development Event, April 9. This event included two prior preliminary rounds to determine the 20 state finalist teams who would compete for top state honors from the initial field of 130 high school teams.
After competing in the two preliminary rounds and then the state finals event, the Orlando-Colonial HS FFA earned the state champions title.
The livestock evaluation and selection CDE stimulates learning activities related to the production and marketing of cattle, sheep and swine. In this event, the team members took a comprehensive written exam on the livestock industry, completed a team activity, evaluated a class of feeder cattle using the USDA grading system, evaluated and placed 8-10 market and breeding classes of livestock, answered questions on a number of livestock animal classes and defended their placings for sets of evaluation classes by presenting oral reasons to a panel of judges.
The Orlando-Colonial HS FFA livestock evaluation and selection team will receive their awards on stage at the Florida FFA State Convention in June. This team will also now represent Florida by competing at the National FFA Convention in October.