UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- A team of students from Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences finished fourth overall at the fall National Collegiate Poultry Judging Contest, held recently at University of Arkansas.
Penn State's team consisted of Justin Knoebel, of Elysburg, pa., an animal sciences major; Philip Wise, of Spring Mills, Pa., an Agricultural Science major with a poultry and avian science minor; Michael Taylor, of Fairview, Pa., an animal sciences major with a poultry and avian science minor; and Molly Winkle, of Hookstown, Pa., an animal sciences major with a poultry and avian science minor.
In addition to taking fourth place overall, the Penn State team finished fourth in the breed selection and carcass quality division and fourth in the egg production and quality division.
Texas A&M University, West Virginia University and the University of Arkansas were the top three teams overall. Penn State and Louisiana State University rounded out the top five. There were a total of eight teams and 31 individuals in the 2011 fall contest.
Knoebel was the eighth highest individual overall, seventh in breed selection and carcass quality and eighth in egg production and quality. Wise placed 13th overall and sixth in egg production and quality.
Funded by the U.S. Poultry and Egg Association, the contest gives students the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge of U.S. Department of Agriculture regulations governing the grading of eggs and poultry. Competitors also must demonstrate their ability to select the breeders that will produce the most eggs and the offspring that will produce the meatiest carcass most efficiently.