FFA Students Get Back Into Meats Judging CDE

by Alyssa Headley

The Princeville FFA Meats Judging Team gathered every morning for several weeks in preparation for the Section 5 FFA Meats Judging Career Development Event (CDE). The event took place after school on November 6, 2018, at Raber’s Packing Company. 

CDEs are contests created to give insight into possible future career paths for FFA members. Princeville Agriculture Teacher, Jacob Meisner,  says that Meats Judging practices included “focus on retail cut identification and how to accurately score quality meat grades.”

This was Princeville’s first time competing in this CDE in several years. Although the team placed 7th in the Section, they were outside their comfort zones learning about the industry and having fun along the way. Sophomore FFA Member Carrie Gill found it “interesting to see the inside of Raber’s and how it ran.” 

Senior FFA Member Briar Hilsabeck learned, “There is a lot more to the meat industry than just the butchering of the animals.”

Other members of the 2018-2019 Princeville Meats Judging Team included Cassie Berchtold, Ethan Beutel, Stephen Christianson, Kate Colgan, Kip Hoerr, and Dakoda Maguire.

The Princeville FFA will continue competing in this CDE on an annual basis at the section level, and, with time, they will hopefully be able to compete at the state level and beyond.