Lewiston Consolidated Schools hosted the district FFA poultry contest on Monday.
Nine schools with approximately 42 students participated.
Lewiston FFA advisor Kurt Wissenburg said the poultry industry in Nebraska was still relevant.
“This is the first time that Lewiston has hosted the event,” he said. “We want the participating youth to know that the poultry industry is still here in Nebraska and there are still jobs. This is the foundation for getting these kids exposed to the industry with some of the skills that relate to a career in that industry.”
He noted that in Nebraska we often talk about corn and cattle relating to agriculture, but the contests in FFA give youth exposure to many different areas in agriculture.
Students participating in the competition had approximately 10 minutes in nine different stations. There were six different areas of poultry judging, oral reasons and a written test.
Retired ag instructor Joe Baldassare said one of the stations was the quality of the egg.
“They are looking for the quality of the egg,” he said. “The white area of the egg breaks down chemically with shelf life and eventually there’s no difference in the thin and thick. There’s a breakdown of protein and loss of water correlating with the quality of the egg.”
The students also identified parts of the chicken, judged quality of chicken carcasses, identified grade of the carcass, quality of shells of eggs and live birds.
The live bird was the only class the youth judged that allowed them to touch the subject.
Retired ag instructors Dave Barnard and Ken Malone also helped with the competition. Current ag instructors from attending schools also assisted.
Participating schools included Palmyra, Beatrice, Syracuse, Johnson Brock, Lewiston, Freeman, Auburn, Southern, and Norris.
Palmyra students finished first as a team with Beatrice finishing in second place. Syracuse was third and Johnson Brock in fourth place. Palmyra and Beatrice will advance to the state competition.
