Hoard's Dairyman - 88th Judging Contest

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Son of Butch

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The January 10th issue has the 1st of 5 classes on the cover for their 88th Dairy Cow Judging Contest.
4 Brown Swiss cows each so good any dairyman would be proud to own any 1 of them.

24 possible placing combinations per class
I've narrowed them to 4 possible ways I think the official judge might place this class and favor 1 answer as correct.
I know 20 cows = 1,048,576 possible placing combinations
BUT breaking 20 cows into 5 subsets of 4 each.... I think = 9,216 total possible combinations in the contest
(I know there's a lot of total combinations, but I also believe my subset math might be wrong)
ANYWAY....

I've never bothered to enter, but I do play along at home and have never come close to winning.
Does anyone else on here follow the Hoard's Dairyman contest?
 
Yeah, unfortunately, every year when the contest issues start coming out, for some "strange" reason, I either don't get a couple of them or they arrive waaayyyyyy late. :(
 
I never have, but maybe I will take part this year. It takes a considerable amount of time to break down the strengths and faults in each group and weight them.
 
Yes it can take considerable time. I had a friend that would go strictly on first impressions. He'd glance at it for
about 10 seconds, look away then do it again. He'd have his placings in under 60 seconds and his scores would be
respectable... not always the winners, but he never busted out a class.

I think it would be more of a learning experience if they used more average quality cows rather than all being
superior examples of each breed. None of them ever have faults that a dairyman couldn't live with and often it
comes down to nit picking "pretty points" that don't translate to the real world.
 
Jan 25th issue arrived today 2nd of 5 classes Holsteins 3 black and white 1 red Holstein
Honestly they are so good I cannot see putting any one of them in last place.

All I know for sure is I can't put the Red one last.... as that would be racist.
:)
 
Son of Butch":2dx2w1xb said:
Jan 25th issue arrived today 2nd of 5 classes Holsteins 3 black and white 1 red Holstein
Honestly they are so good I cannot see putting any one of them in last place.

All I know for sure is I can't put the Red one last.... as that would be racist.
:)
Click to expand...

I got that issue yesterday. I was surprised to see the red & white.

I'm still waiting for the issue with the 1st class. :frowns:
 
Times up. What was your placing?

Brown Swiss : CBAD
Holstein : DACB
Guernsey : CBAD
Ayrshire : CBDA
Jersey : BDCA
Supreme: Brown Swiss

I was going to invest more time in it, but got busy. I just took a couple minutes for each group.
 
Brown Swiss CBDA I like the D cow and hurts me not to put her higher
Holstein DCAB
Guernsey CBAD another D cow that I like a lot, udder depth prevents me from placing higher (best producing cow?)

Not sure where my other 2 issues are.... I'll have to find where I left them to finish.
 
Son of Butch":1k4y910a said:
Brown Swiss CBDA I like the D cow and hurts me not to put her higher
Holstein DCAB
Guernsey CBAD another D cow that I like a lot, udder depth prevents me from placing higher (best producing cow?)

Not sure where my other 2 issues are.... I'll have to find where I left them to finish.
Click to expand...
Jersey DBCA
Haven't found the Ayrshire issue
 
Well the judges got them wrong again this year.
13,747 entries from 45 states and judges from 7 countries entered and not 1 person got them right according to the
official placings. The closest was a 17 yr old girl from Vermont who won the junior division.
To the best of my knowledge the official judge of each class judges from the same photos and not in person.

official results
Brown Swiss DBCA
Holstien DCAB
Jersey ACBD
Guernsey BDAC
Ayrshire CDAB
Supreme Champion Ayrshire C
Reserve Supreme Holstein D

My Alternative placings based on each breed's classification score from in person classifier evaluation.
and by production: All cows in each class are from the same herd
Brown Swiss judge's official placing DBCA
by production ADBC
by breed classification scores BACD
B VG 89 24,140 milk 708 lbs protein
A VG 88 26,983 m 901 p
C VG 87 20,677 m 708 p
D VG 86 25,268 m 758 p

Holstein official DCAB
by in person breed classifier BC & D all scored vg 89 cow A vg 87

by Lifetime production BCDA
B 64,305 lbs of milk
C 62,779lbs of milk
D 43,157 lbs of milk
A 24,550 lbs of milk she's the same age as the others, but didn't have her 1st calf until 37 months of age

Guernsey official BDAC
classification scores DACB (93-92-91-87)
by production CDAB

Jersey Official ACBD
classification B 92 the other 3 all scored excellent 90
production ABCD

Ayrshire official CDAB
classification scores C 93 pts B 93 pts A 92 pts D 91
production CDAB
cda all sired by Palmyra Burdette
 
Hoard's 89th judging contest arrived today. I only looked at cover as I drove from mailbox back to the house, but I feel
confident going with my first glance placings as my study and study placings never work out.... we'll see.

Brown Swiss: DACB
 
IMO
Holstein: CDBA
C has the highest and widest rear udder, with the most body depth and spring of rib making her the best balanced cow in the class.
D is longer and more stylish than B and stands on a much better set of feet and legs.
B In the closest of placings I put B over A because of her advantage in front end dairy strength, even though A is
more correct in her feet and legs.
A is a very nice cow, but lacks the front end strength to place higher in this class. :2cents:
 
Milking Shorthorn: DBAC
I love the D cow's youthful looks, so of course the judge will come along and tell me B is better
and It will not surprise me even a little bit if they are sisters.
C is the most powerful cow in the class and is the type of cow Guernsey genetics could have used
30 years ago to save the breed from near extinction, at least on farms in the usa.
 
2019 5th of 5 classes
Jersey: DCBA

D is my easy top, but the A cow gives me a lot of trouble. When I break her down total points score
her number 2 in the class. BUT C has a higher wider rear udder and if I go by that logic then I have
to be consistent and put both C and B over her. I don't like it, but I'm putting A on the bottom.
 
I didn't get the 'production' issue of the cows in the 88th judging contest.
But I just saw the official results today... as usual I got my butt kicked in the official judging.
I nailed 2 classes... Brown Swiss and Milking Shorthorn... 1st of 24 in scoring for both classes.
But butchered the other 3 classes.
13th of 24 in Guernsey... 14th of 24 in Holstein... 14th of 24 in Jersey

The only one I feel bad about is the Jersey class, had I put the A cow in 2nd it would've given me
2nd of 24... :cry2:
Although I made the same mistake in the Holstein class... so at least I'm consistent. :)
 

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