Webster leads next generation of livestock evaluators
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Kyle Webster (center) at a judging event.
Since graduating in 2018, Kyle Webster has been making a name for himself.
After graduating from Chrisman High School, Webster attended Lake Land College in Mattoon for two years, then transferred to Western Illinois University in Macomb, Illinois to pursue a degree in Ag Business and a minor in Animal Science.
Webster is no stranger to livestock, spending his life in the 4-H organization and participating in FFA.
This time, it’s Kyle that’s doing the judging. At a livestock judging contest, there are only twelve classes of animals. Species include beef cattle, pigs, sheep and goats. The classes consist of four animals in one particular species.
“My job as a contest is to rank them one to four,” Webster said. “The best to worst based on their phenotype, such as how flexible their skeleton is, how much muscle they have or just how well they balance.”
The twelve classes are judged in the morning, then Webster is given eight sets of oral reasons on the classes.
“These reasons are given to someone that gave the official placing on the class,” Kyle said. “The contest must give a prepared set of reasons on why they placed the class the way they did.”
The teams are organized through the colleges. Webster was on both teams at Lake Land and now at Western. “It’s really your chance to show the ‘old guys’ of the industry who the new and upcoming talents are and to have a better understanding of evaluating livestock as a whole.”
Kyle’s team consists of eleven students ranging from home grown Illinois kids to girls from California to students from Virginia.
“There are teams from all over the country that come to this contest like California, Texas, Florida, Minnesota, Ohio, everywhere,” Webster said.
The team doesn’t just stay in Macomb, they travel all over the United States. In January, they were at a contest in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and Sioux Falls, South Dakota. In February, they were in Des Moines, Iowa. In March, they traveled to Houston, Texas.
“This fall, we just got back from Austin, Minnesota,” Kyle said. “We will go to Grand Island, Nebraska, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Kansas City, Missouri and finish at the National Championship in Louisville, Kentucky.”
Kyle hopes to judge shows all around the country and become a part of the next generation of livestock evaluators. “I think my experiences at home, Lake Land, and WIU have put me on the right path,” Webster told us.
Webster plans to graduate in May with his degrees in Ag Business and Animal Science. “I hope to end up in a career around the show pig industry to follow my passion on not only raising pigs, but helping the next generation reach their goals and dreams”.
