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LSU takes top honors at national poultry judging contest

LSU takes top honors at national poultry judging contest Writer: Johnny Morgan at 225-578-8484 or jmorgan@agcenter.lsu.edu (04/13/17) BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU poultry judging team won numerous awards at this year’s U.S. Poultry Foundation Ted Cameron National Poultry Judging Contest held April 5-7 on the LSU Baton Rouge campus. For 70 years, LSU has participated in the event, and again this year’s team competed against other schools from as far away as Ohio State University and West Virginia University. The LSU team placed first overall in the contest, and four team members were named overall finalists. Individual winners from LSU were Kurtlyn Givens of Arkadelphia, Arkansas, who was the overall high individual in the contest, David Smith, of Opelousas, second high individual; Nicole Cutrer, of Covington, fourth high individual; and Chris Harris, of Baton Rouge, fifth high individual overall. Retired poultry science professor Dennis Ingram coached this year’s team. LSU AgCenter 4-H instructor David Boldt, who coordinates the event, said this annual competition provides students the opportunity to gain experience in evaluating birds for egg production and for breeding. Boldt said the students compete in production judging, breed selection judging and market products grading using U.S. Department of Agriculture rules and regulations. “The concepts learned are important for students to succeed in the contest and are very beneficial to them as they enter the industry,” he said. “The contest teaches them how to make decisions and communicate their reasoning as well as to identify products that consumers want to see on the store shelves.” The awards banquet was held on April 7 at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Baton Rouge.