Last year, UGA Animal and Dairy Science created a new program called the Junior Herd Builder Program. In the program, students in 8th-12th grade complete a series of educational modules, develop 3 heifers from weaning to breeding while maintaining a record book, and participate in a round of interviews and presentations. The purpose of this program is to allow students another avenue to become involved in production Agriculture and gain hands on experience in the process.
In the first year of the program we had a great turnout. On May 21st, 9 students and 26 heifers came to Athens to compete for cash, banners, feed vouchers, and more. Thanks to the overwhelming support from our sponsors, we were able to give away many great prizes. In addition to material prizes, participants walked away from this program with valuable knowledge and experience in production Agriculture. For a summary of the results from the 2020-2021 Junior Herd Builder Program, please visit the UGA Beef Team on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ugabeefteam
We are looking forward to an even bigger turnout in our 2nd year with the Junior Herd Builder Program and would like for the youth in your area to participate. All deadlines, information, and entry forms can be found at: https://beef.caes.uga.edu/programs/junior-herd-builder.html.
