Each year, the Iowa Cattlemen’s Foundation hosts the Beef Scholarship Extravaganza. This one-day competition is one of the most challenging and rewarding youth cattle competitions in the nation. The competition was on the Iowa State University campus in Ames on December 13.

   This unique competition focuses on students’ knowledge and skills in beef production management. Three member teams work through 10 stations that cover a broad range of beef cattle management practices including marketing, nutrition, beef quality, merchandising seedstock, reproduction, selection of replacement heifers, credit and finance, and industry issues.

   Two teams from the Denison FFA entered the scholarship competition.  

- Sara Swafford, Shelby Reetz and Kyle Jepsen were members of the Kow Kickers

- The Burger Kings were comprised of Derek Ketelsen, Lukas Sievertsen, and John Schneller 

   "Much time and work goes into the preparation of this event," said Denison FFA advisor Randall Kuhlmann.  

   The two teams started practicing every day for a month and on weekends.  

   "Background knowledge and how much extra time the teams themselves put in makes a difference in how well they do in the competition," stated Kuhlmann. 

   "It was a lot of work, and you had to study to keep up." commented Kyle Jepsen.

   Joe Smith and Tim Baughman also assisted in preparing the teams.

   The competition started at 7:30 in the morning and concluded at 3 p.m. It was a long, exhausting day as team members moved from station to station.

   The team of Swafford, Reetz and Jepsen finished seventh, missing the scholarship awards.

   The top five teams are awarded $3,000, $2,250, $1,500, $1,200, and $900 respectively.

   "I know they had higher expectations," commented Kuhlmann, "but they said they were glad that they were involved in the activity."

   This year’s competition was the second time that the Burger Kings participated in the Iowa Cattlemen's Association Beef Scholarship Extravaganza as they placed fourth in the previous event. Finishing higher than last year and increasing their scholarship winnings was the team’s goal.  

   After all stations were tabulated, the Burger Kings had won the handling and health and the marketing stations, had placed second in two other stations, and the team was announced as the reserve champion team.  

   Upon analysis of the Burger King members’ score discovered that they missed being the champion team by 1.67 points. 

   Even though the team members were disappointed that the score was so close, they reminded each other that they attained their goal and had increased their scholarship winnings.

   The scholarships are valid at any Iowa post secondary schools, and certain institutions will match the Denison FFA members’ scholarships.

   An entry fee of $200 is required for each team that competes. Vetter Equipment and Ullrich Farms sponsored the teams from the Denison FFA.  

   "We really appreciate the interest in the education of our youth and the financial assistance from the community," commented Kuhlmann.