By Jackson Piester
Pratt County 4-H Club member
Special to the Tribune

These are the results of the 2024 Pratt Fair Beef Carcass show. There were 20 4-H beef project members with 28 beef carcasses competing. The cattle were shipped to Tyson Fresh Meats, at Holcomb, Kansas. The carcasses were judged by Dr. Clint Alexander from Garden City Community College, and he awarded the winners of the Beef Carcass Contest. The MVB (Most Valuable Beef) Award given in Pratt County is based on the total carcass value, the carcass show placing, the live show placing, and the rate of gain for the animal.

Colton Kalous won the MVB award, and his brother Dawson Kalous won the Beef Carcass Contest. Most people believe carcasses are judged by their weight or size but that simply is just not true. Carcasses are judged based on the yield of fat to muscle or how much marbling there is in the animal. The judge scores the carcass on quality grades, and these include prime, choice, select, and standard. Prime is the best and standard is the least desirable. To have prime meat a beef must be young with abundant marbling. But the most common rating is choice with moderate marbling and is approximately 50% of all beef. Just because it is a big animal does not mean that animal is a tender animal for consumption.

Pratt County 4-H Club members are thankful for all the livestock sale support received from the Pratt community. It is time to start selecting steers to be ready for next year.

Piester is a nine-year member of the beef project in Pratt County 4-H.