|
Elizabeth Loveless of Rector receives her winning 4-H state barbecue plaque from Jerry Wooley, chairman of the 4-H state barbecue contest held at the 49th Annual Poultry Festival in Rogers.
|
Sarah Bunch receives her winning 4-H state barbecue plaque from Jerry Wooley, chairman of the 4-H state barbecue contest held at the 49th Annual Poultry Festival in Rogers.
|
Little Rock, AR, JUNE 24, 2008: Elizabeth Loveless of Rector won the senior division of the state 4-H Broiler Barbecue Contest held during the 49th annual Poultry Festival on June 14 in Rogers, sponsored by The Poultry Federation. Sarah Bunch of Batesville won the junior division. Loveless and Bunch each received a plaque and $100 for placing first in their divisions.
Other participants in the state contest included: Luke Phillips of Booneville; Alex Forst of Subiaco; Levi Halmes of Ozark; Sara Goldman of Norfork; Heather Nutt of Bigelow; Ricky Myers of Morrilton; Hannah Reed of Vilonia; John Michael Clemons of Gurdon; Edward Lewis of Hampton; and Miranda Hall of DeQueen.
Loveless moves forward to compete in the National 4-H Poultry and Egg Competition in Louisville, KY, in November. Other 4-H contestants at the conference will compete in poultry judging, turkey barbecue, egg preparation and the Avian Bowl.
The poultry judging contests teach participants to make decisions in an orderly manner, use reasoning skills and to communicate decisions. They also learn to use USDA grading criteria to determine quality of ready-to-cook poultry and eggs. The chicken and turkey barbecue contests involve skills in barbecuing, preparation of a product, and a presentation that demonstrates knowledge of the subject industry, food safety and product attributes. In the egg preparation demonstration contest, contestants must prepare an egg dish, demonstrate presentation skills and incorporate knowledge of the egg industry, egg quality and nutrition. The avian bowl is a double elimination contest for state teams patterned after other knowledge bowls. Contestants must have a comprehensive knowledge of subject matter for several species of poultry, food safety, physiology, nutrition, eggs, and other subjects.
The Poultry Federation is a 3-state trade organization representing the poultry and egg industries in Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. Offices are located in Little Rock, AR, Jefferson City, MO, and Oklahoma City, OK. The purposes of the Federation are to promote and protect all poultry interests relating to production, distribution, merchandising and consumption of poultry and poultry products; to disseminate information relating to the various phases of the poultry industry in order to improve and expand markets; to increase efficiency in production and marketing; to encourage and support research in production and marketing of poultry; and to encourage and support youth programs in poultry work.
According to the National Agriculture Statistics Services of the U.S Department of Agriculture, in 2007 Arkansas ranked second and Oklahoma ranked eleventh nationwide in broiler production; Arkansas ranked third and Missouri ranked fifth nationwide in turkey production. Also in 2007, Arkansas ranked eighth in egg production. Arkansas is the only state nationwide ranked in the top 10 of all 3 categories of broiler, turkey, and egg production.
###
Contact: Paulette Binkley
The Poultry Federation
321 South Victory
Little Rock, AR 72201
Phone: 501.375.8131 or
Ken Prim
OK Farms
Fort Smith, AR
Phone: 479.783.3451
|
