The Pierce County 4-H meat judging team brought home team and individual awards from the National 4-H Meat Evaluation and Identification Contest held Oct. 18 in Manhattan, Kan.

The team, representing North Dakota, placed second overall. Team members are Breanna Thompson of Rugby, Devin Volk and Abby Volk of York, and Shane Giedd of Washburn.

In the individual overall competition, Devin Volk placed second, Giedd placed fourth, Thompson placed ninth and Abby Volk was 11th.

The contest consisted of judging six classes (beef carcasses, beef ribs, porterhouse steaks, pork carcasses, hams and pork Boston butts), providing oral reasons for the contestants’ rankings in three of the classes, and identification of 30 retail cuts.

Here is how the Pierce County team placed in the various events:

• First - pork judging, with Devin Volk placing first individually and Giedd placing second
• First - retail cut judging, with Thompson placing first individually and Abby Volk placing sixth
• Second - retail cut identification, with Devin Volk placing fifth
• Third - reasons, with Giedd placing second individually
• Fourth - beef judging

In the judging section of the contest, Devin Volk placed sixth, Abby Volk placed eighth, Thompson placed ninth and Giedd placed 10th.

The team is coached by Gary Martens and Rick Vannett.

NDSU Agriculture Communication - Oct. 28, 2016