If you bring wool, meat or livestock around students in the Texas Tech Animal and Food Sciences department, prepare to be judged.
Most of the students start out as freshman judging wool. Brittany Blum said the process is complex.
"When we go to a contest we have six classes and 15 fleeces," Blum said. "We examine weight, staple length, fineness, uniformity, etc."
Taylor Green said that more weight is great.
"When it comes to judging wool, weight is pretty much your number one factor," Green said.
Valerie Manning is a member of the Texas Tech meat judging team and she explained the judging process.
"We evaluate a bunch of different carcasses and meat cuts," Manning said. "It is a lot of fun. It is really cold. It is about 32 degrees in the cooler, and we evaluate the quality and muscling differences. We want to determine which is best for the consumer."
Dan Crownover is confident in his team and their abilities.
"Everyone out there has a chance to win at every contest," Crownover said. "We just like to go out and show them what we got, which is quite a bit."
Steven Ebeling said it is about more than just bringing home the bacon.
"I think we have many more goals than just winning," Ebeling said. "Meat judging is also about being a better person and bettering the lives of other people. We do a lot of volunteer work, and it is about more than just the contest."
Manning said at the end of the day, the best part is being able to represent Texas Tech.
"When you go to a contest, all the schools wear their colors on their hard hats," Manning said. "Ours are red, and you have to wear that hard hat proud."
Livestock judging is also a fine art at Texas Tech University where juniors like Segayle Foster and seniors like Zach Smith get to compete.
"I have been livestock judging since I was in the third grade through 4-H," Segayle said. "My dad is a farmer, and I've been around it all my life."
Judging although seemingly second nature is always a thrill.
"What we do is we look at sheep, hogs, cattle and now goats." Foster said. "You place a class 1-4 and then tell the person why you placed it that way. There is a certain format you have to go by, and the process is really exciting."
Smith said regardless of the outcome of the competitions, this group is like family.
"I went to a really small high school," Smith said. "It is like high school here too because I know everyone. I like it because it is personal. It is awesome actually."
The group leaves for the Southwestern Exposition in Ft. Worth on January 31.
