How are cuts made?

[brandonm_13]

Okay, when you place a class of livestock, how are the cuts made. For example I might say, "I place this class of commercial heifers 4-1-3-2 with cuts 3-5-3.

 

[capparelli]

Okay, when you place a class of livestock, how are the cuts made. For example I might say, "I place this class of commercial heifers 4-1-3-2 with cuts 3-5-3.

Officials put cuts on a class in a judging contest as a way to score the participants placings in the contest. 4/1 was a harder decision than 1/3, therefore the cut was less. The placing of 1/3 should have been more obvious, and therefore the higher cut. With the bottom pair you would only take a 3 point cut for placing 2/3, because it was a tighter pair than 1/3. Usually there will be more than one official for a judging contest, and that will also effect the cuts. The officials don't always place the class the same, so they have to compromise. I don't know if that helps at all, I may have just made it more complicated than helpful.

 

[Avalon]

lets put a bit more confusion in there. If you are a contestant you will not need to know anything about the cuts. They are merely a way for the officials to score you. Not all wrong placings have eqaul value as capparelli stated. Lets say that the class is "officially" placed 1-2-3-4. If the officials put cuts of 4-1-4 . this means that 1 is a very easy top and 4 is a pretty easy bottom in their opinion. Just as an example: There is a possible high of 50 points on a class. If you placed the class 2-1-3-4, we would take away 4 points and you would get a 46 on the class. But keep in mind if you are a contestant, you'll not need to worry about the cuts other than realizing what emphasis they placed on the class. If you you do want to get further into this, you may be able to get more info from your State Extension service. I would think that your local 4-H agent could point you in the right direction.

 

[brandonm_13]

Nope the 4-H agent doesn't know anymore about it than me. The ag agent knows less. You'd be surprised. Unless you are one of the judges at a competition, most don't know about the cuts.

Of course I did know what the cuts are. I just didn't know how they decided how many points each cut was worth. I suppose it's just the opinion of the judge, just like the placings.

 

[aussie_cowgirl]

Haha, no idea. Never heard of cuts

 

[Australian]

I take it you mean cut up the class when there are large numbers.
I always put those that take my eye immediately up in the first group. This comes unstuck sometimes but mostly it works. Bulls seem to tbe the easiest. Cows and calves are different because of the calf. You might have a magnificent looking cow with an ordiary calf then further down there is a plainer cow with a much better calf.

 

[Anonymous]

In our junior judging here, the cuts (as you call them) are usually the same. I haven't heard of them being changed yet.
First and fourth are always meant to be the easiest to pick, with second and fourth a bit closer. I think there is some room for the judge to move if he/she thinks 1 and 2, or 3 and 4, are close.
But classes are generally picked so there is a clear winner and last place.

 

[Ryan]

I take it you mean cut up the class when there are large numbers.
I always put those that take my eye immediately up in the first group. This comes unstuck sometimes but mostly it works. Bulls seem to tbe the easiest. Cows and calves are different because of the calf. You might have a magnificent looking cow with an ordiary calf then further down there is a plainer cow with a much better calf.

No, he means in judging contests where there are 4 animals in the class. They are number 1 2 3 and 4. They are placed accordingly by the official judge, then the "cuts" are the points deducted from your total score from the class when you place them incorrectly.

 

[diana55]

My understanding is the cuts refer to points (splits) between first and second, second and third etc. Much as capparelli and avalon stated. The cuts are needed to use a hormel slide (computing slide for scoring judging competitions). The overjudge decides on the splits which must not total less than 3 or more than 15. If the overjudge decides that the first two animals are very close , he/she will put a cut of 1 or 2 between them but if he/she feels there is a lot of difference , the cut will be much larger.The same applies between 2nd and 3rd placing and between 3rd and 4th placing. We use hormel slides for all junior judging classes (cattle, sheep, etc ) at shows in our region (local fairs). Hope this explains it a bit.

diana55
'down under in the outback...there are more sheep than people..'

 

[BC]

Here is a publication that explains how cuts are made and how to figure the score:

http://animalscience.tamu.edu/images/pd ... udging.pdf

 

[brandonm_13]

Thanks for the help guys (and gals).