2025 RESULTS
Senior Division Team Results
Senior Division Individual Results
Junior Division Team Results
Junior Division Individual Results
2025 Iowa Pork Youth Judging Contest Officials
FULL EVENT DETAILS
When:
Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025
Check in: Team check-in 8:30-9:30 a.m.. The contest begins at 10 a.m.
Where:
Iowa State Fairgrounds, Pioneer Livestock Pavilion
Details:
This contest is meant to be a team event, and students are encouraged to be on teams. A team will consist of 4 students, with 3 of the scores counting toward the team total. Teams of 3 will be allowed if a team of 4 cannot be formed. If a team of 3 cannot be formed, individuals will be accepted. The contest will have junior and senior divisions, with juniors being any students who are not yet in high school.
Parking:
Buses, vans, and cars will be able to park on the west side of Pioneer Livestock Pavilion on Rock Island Avenue on the Iowa State Fairgrounds.
What to Expect:
- Carcass Fabrication Demonstration: Students will watch a fabrication demonstration of a hog carcass to see the different cuts of a hog and where our favorite pork products come from – sponsored by Smithfield Foods.
- Keep/Cull Gilt Class: The keep/cull class will challenge the students to evaluate 8 pigs based on breeding characteristics of a good female. They will be asked to select 4 gilts they would like to keep and put back into the breeding herd.
- Live Carcass Evaluation: The carcass evaluation class asks students to answer a set of multiple-choice questions based on carcass traits of live hogs such as weight, loin eye size, back fat.
- Market Hog Class and Commercial Gilt Class: The last two hog evaluation classes will fit more of what the students are accustomed to when it comes to livestock judging contest. Each will have a total of four live animals, and students will be asked to rank them from best to worst.
- Iowa Pork Industry/Meat Quality Exam: Students will be asked multiple-choice questions which will focus on Iowa’s pork industry, meat quality and characteristics, and general farm practices.
For more information, contact Brielle Smeby at (800) 372-7675 or bsmeby@iowapork.org.
Please take the time to thank all of our 2025 Judging Contest sponsors for their continued support of our youth!
