EASTERN STATES EXPOSITION

COLLEGIATE AND 4-H DAIRY CATTLE JUDGING CONTEST

Saturday, September 19, 2026 

Superintendent - Andrew Samuelson (860) 534-0556 cell

 

CONTEST SCHEDULE:

7:00: All teams in place at the Coliseum.

7:15: Judging begins. (10 classes)

9:45: Judging ends

9:45-10:15 Break/Lunch

10:15-10:45: Transition to Reasons Location

10:45: Reasons begins. (4 classes)

2:00 PM: Reasons concludes.

5:00 PM: Collegiate Awards Banquet

8:00 PM: 4-H Awards Program (at conclusion of pizza party)

 

DIVISIONS- This contest will consist of two divisions:

1. Collegiate - Open to all agricultural colleges in the United States and Canada offering Bachelor and/or a two-year certificate and/or Associate Degree programs degrees for a regular course in Agriculture.

2. 4-H - Open to 4-H teams from each New England State.

 

ELIGIBILITY Each team is to consist of four members.

a.          Each team may submit four members to participate in the contest with the low scoring member being designated as an alternate.

b.          Once the low scoring contestant has been designated as the alternate for the team, the contestant will be eligible for individual awards for the individual breeds, for reasons or for team rankings.

c.          The contest shall count as one of the three contests in the eligibility of the low-scoring contestant.

d.          If a coach would like to protect the eligibility of a contestant, they may do so by designating the alternate prior to the contest. Therefore, the coach has selected the three-person team with a designated alternate.

e.          No contestant shall have officiated at a show or fair before this contest.

Collegiate - Each contestant must be a regularly enrolled student and have completed one year of college work in the institution at which they represent. Anyone who has at any time served as a teacher of animal husbandry or dairy husbandry in an agricultural college or secondary school is not eligible for entry in this contest.

Contestants may enter the dairy judging contest more than one year unless the following apply:

a) They were previously high individual.

b) They were a member (including alternate) of the high team in a previous contest.

A contestant may have been a participant in another Eastern States Exposition Contest in previous years, but cannot compete in two contests at the same time. Maximum of two teams per school.

 

4-H - Participants from colleges may not enter the contest as a 4-H contestant after having judged as a collegiate contestant. If a 4-H member is the high individual in this contest they may judge again provided they were not a member of a team that competed at the National 4-H Judging Contest in Madison, Wisc.

Having been a designated alternate on a team of a previous year shall not debar a contestant from taking part in this contest. Maximum of two teams per state.

ENTRIES- All entries for this contest MUST BE RECEIVED by Eastern States Exposition's Department of Agriculture & Education by September 1, 2026. Contestants' names must be included in the entry form. A fee of $10 per contestant must accompany the entry. If an alternate is being designated prior to the start of the competition, this needs to be submitted in writing by September 10, 2026. Any changes submitted after this date are at the discretion of the Superintendent or their designee.

COACHES MEETING- There will be a meeting for all coaches to be held in the Mallary West Arena Cafe, near the milking parlor, at 6pm on Friday, September 18. Tickets and passes will be provided. We encourage our collegiate contestants to enjoy the Big E during the coaches meeting. However, contestants should not enter the Mallary Arena where the cattle are housed. 

CONTEST- The contest will start promptly at 7am EST, Saturday, September 19, 2026. Each contestant will be provided contest materials and assigned a number. A light breakfast will be provided starting at 6:15am.

While the contest is in progress there shall be no conferring between contestants or between a contestant and anyone else, except as directed by the Superintendent or their designee. Collegiate contestants and coaches are not allowed to enter the dairy cattle barns prior to the contest. Officials for the contest shall confer only with each other during the contest. For the duration of the contest, Coaches will be required to sit in a designated area and no one will be allowed on the railing of the ring for any reason.

CLASSES - The contest will aim to include 10 classes of four animals each: a combination of heifer and cow classes of each of the dairy breeds - Ayrshire, Brown Swiss, Guernsey, Holstein, Jersey, Milking Shorthorn, and Red and White will be judged. The superintendent reserves the right to adjust the contest classes to ensure the highest quality classes.

SHOWING ANIMALS - Twelve minutes will be allowed for placing each class (15 minutes for reason classes The animals shall be held in a careful manner so that all contestants may have an equal opportunity to examine them. The animals for identification shall be numbered 1 to 4 inclusive. When the animals are aligned side by side, the numbers will be from right to left (1-4) as viewed from the rear. The Superintendent reserves the right to remove handlers and assign new ones at his/her discretion if the animal is being handled improperly, or if the animal is unruly and may cause harm.

REASONS - Contestants shall give 4 sets of oral reasons, two minutes in length. Before the contest starts, the Superintendent shall notify the contestants of the classes on which reasons will be required, so that contestants may take notes. Contestants should review their notes prior to the start of reasons. Contestants will be allowed at least 20 minutes prior to the start of reasons to prepare. NEW FOR 2026: The reasons portion of the contest will be held at the Roberta Doering Middle School, located a short walk from the ground. Participants will walk from the Coliseum to the school with contest staff. At the conclusion of the reasons contest, coaches will meet their teams and escort them back to the grounds.

JUDGES - A committee of judges shall place all classes, and will listen to and score reasons.

DETERMINATION OF RANKINGS - Rankings shall be based upon a possible score of 50 points for each class placed and 50 points for each set of reasons. The final rank of each contestant shall be determined by totaling his score for placing and reasons. Up to four contestants may be entered for each team. For the purpose of any team scoring, the points for the top 3 ranking individuals will be used unless one of the contestants is designated as an alternate in which case the 3 non-designated members will count as the team score regardless of contestant rankings. Alternates will compete as individuals and will be listed in the individual scoring.

TIES- When there is a tie among individuals or teams, it shall be decided by the total of the reasons scores; ifthere is still a tie, it shall be decided by the total score on cow classes. Ties for breed or reasons totals shall be decided by the total contest ranking of the teams or individuals.

OFFICIAL PLACING AND SCORING - A competent committee will make the official placing and listen to oral reasons from the contestants. Scoring of placing classes shall be as described in Trimberger (1958). In grading the placing of the contestants, the individual cuts between the respective animals shall be supplied by the official judge. The total cuts shall not exceed 15 points. If, in the opinion of the official judge, total cuts should be less than 15 points due to closeness of placing within the entire class, such a lesser total may be used.

Coaches will have the opportunity to check placing cards for error at the Mallary Office immediately following the contest. Coaches may be asked to act as group leaders and aid with tabulation of the contest.

RESULTS AND AWARDS - NEW FOR 2026. An awards banquet will be held at the Storrowton Taven, located on the grounds at 5PM for collegiate teams. Results and awards will be provided to the coach of each team.  4-H awards will be presented at the New England 4-H Dairy Show Awards Ceremony.

                  EARLY HOTEL RESERVATIONS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Trimberger, G.W. 1958. Dairy Cattle Judging Techniques. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Page 269.

NAME OF CONTESTANT AND CITY AND STATE OF RESIDENCE

(For news items and photo cut lines) (Designate alternate by: "ALT")

 

 

Please submit application by September 1, even if uncertainties on names exist, to allow gate passes to be in your hands prior to arrival; then send names when they are available [entry lists must be finalized by September 10].

 

Please accept our entry in the Dairy Cattle Judging Contest to be held at Eastern States Exposition in the Coliseum, subject to all rules and regulations governing this contest as contained in the official announcement.

 

Send registration payment ($10 per contestant) by September 1 to:

 

Agriculture and Education Office

Eastern States Expostion

1305 Memorial Ave.

West Springfield, MA  01089