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In the eyes of the judges
Published 5/28/2009 in Beef Empire Days-Industry
By STEPHANIE FARLEY
It might have appeared to someone not paying much attention Wednesday that Marcine Moldenhauer was just standing in a pen full of cattle.
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Brad Nading/Telegram — Dustin Glaze, right, and Rick Hibler move cattle from the pens to the shoot Wednesday for weighing during the Beef Empire Days intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health Live Show at the Finney County Fairgrounds. Glaze is with Brookover Feed Yard and Hilber is with Beefland.
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Brad Nading/Telegram — Marcine Moldhauser sorts cattle individually in to pens as she judges the Beef Empire Days Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health Live Show Wednesday at the Finney County Fairgrounds. Moldhauser is with Cargill Meat Solutions.
Look a little closer, though, and one could see Moldenhauer's eyes moving from one steer to another, and then her eyes judging cattle in the heifer category as Moldenhauer judged the 41st annual Live Show Wednesday.
A graduate of Kansas State University with a bachelor's degree in animal science and meat technology, Moldenhauer was raised on a diversified ranching and farming operation on the eastern edge of the Flint Hills. She spent 22 years with Cargill Meat Solutions as part of the cattle procurement management team, and now owns a livestock and meat advisory business, focusing on, among other things, strategic planning, managing and marketing and creating products and services by connecting food service and retail customers with the beef production segments.
What Moldenhauer was looking for in the nearly 180 head of cattle that made their way through the show ring Wednesday was the animal in each category -- steers and heifers -- that best represented each segment of the industry equally, beneficially and efficiently. In other words, an animal that's ultimately desirable to the consumer, easy to merchandise and that gives the consumer the right mind-set of what beef is and should be, she said after the show.
On Wednesday, as Moldenhauer stood at one end of the arena, loud whistling and phrases such as "get in there" and "come on black" could be heard near the cattle chute area on the opposite end of the arena.
Deann Gillen-Lehman held an electric cattle prod in one hand, prodding the cattle to move through the "snake" -- a sort of twisty metal hallway that cattle are led through from the alley to the chute -- and into the chute. From the chute, the cattle are weighed and then led through another alley, past the crowd in the grandstands and to the opposite end of the arena where Moldenhauer was judging.
Rick Hibler was on horseback, helping move cattle from a larger pen to the chute. The handling of the animals has gotten easier over the years, he said, with the Live Show, which also makes it better on the animal. There's less stress on the cattle, he said, which is ultimately better for the meat -- meaning fewer dark cutters, which is darker meat that's caused by a combination of factors that stress the animal.
Hibler says he'll sometimes test his eye, trying to judge the cattle, just like everybody else at the Live Show. He's also been involved in the past with picking out some of the animals at his feedyard, Beefland (Irsik & Doll), to compete in the Live Show. Some years, he's had animals do well and other years where they didn't.
"Just like everybody else," he said, laughing.
Sharon Wormington, who was opening and closing pens to place cattle as Moldenhauer sorted, knew there was something she liked about No. 111 -- a steer from Grant County Feeders and owned by J & F Cattle.
She couldn't quite place what she liked about the animal that was in the second pen and that Moldenhauer eventually moved to the first pen. The steer went on to take first in the Live Show for steers.
"That was just kind of a guess," Wormington said of No. 111. "I'm glad it's her doing it and not me," she added of Moldenhauer.
Moldenhauer finished sorting and judging steers around 11:45 a.m. and finished sorting heifers around 2:50 p.m., preparing to announce the results to the group. After looking at her notes, Moldenhauer grabbed a portable microphone and started talking to the audience, telling everyone this year's heifers were a powerful set.
She started with fifth place -- No. 549, a heifer from Brookover Feedyard and owned by Paul Vaughn. She went through Nos. 532, 536 and 508 and then came to the top heifer -- one that puts the whole package together of being thick, deep, long and well and evenly muscled.
Moldenhauer tried to put variety in her top selections for steers and heifers. She also tries to represent what the different segments of the industry -- the feeder, packer and rancher -- are looking for. From a feeder standpoint, Moldenhauer said, she's looking for, among other things, an animal that gains efficiently and has a desirable live and carcass weight.
Last year, Moldenhauer gave those at the Live Show an idea what type of animal she likes -- one with an 11 to 15 1/2-inch ribeye, preferably choice, a carcass weight of 600 to 950 pounds, grades 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 and is efficient to the industry.
The difference between this year and last year, she said, is the audience "had listened well." Moldenhauer added it was much more difficult to pick this year, and that the top five in each category should have a place somewhere in the market and with the consumer.
Judging for the Carcass Show starts Friday. That's "where the rubber meets the road," Moldenhauer said, adding she finds out if the live animal stacks up to the carcass.
Find more Beef Empire Days coverage in our special Beef Empire Days section at http://www.gctelegram.com/BeefEmpireDays/.
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