Grant County livestock teams win big   

By Jim Massey 

Freelance writer  

When Dennis Patterson was asked to judge Grant County 4-H livestock teams in 1988, he did so because two of his younger brothers were on the teams and they were in need of a coach. 

Thirty-seven years later, after coaching his kids and dozens of other young people, Patterson is still at it, now coaching his nieces and nephews and their friends on livestock and meats judging, skillathon and quiz bowl teams that traditionally do well at state and national competitions. This year was no exception, as the Grant County livestock quiz bowl and skillathon teams finished as reserve champions in national contests in November at the North American International Livestock Exposition in Louisville, after winning at the state level to qualify for the competition. 

Both Grant County teams placed behind national grand champion teams from Illinois. The Illinois teams were comprised of young people from across the state of Illinois, while the Wisconsin winners were all from Grant County. 

The 4-H livestock program has become virtually a year-around activity for Patterson, his coaching team and the young people involved. They get together most Sunday afternoons at the Grant County Fairgrounds, where 30 or so youth are split into groups to work with Patterson, his daughter, Amanda Cauffman, his brother, Ron, and 4-Her Libby Vogt, who was on one of this year’s teams and is helping coach future competitors.  

Patterson generally takes a break from coaching during the spring, when his beef cows are calving and he is planting the farm’s 280 acres of corn, 140 of soybeans and harvesting 120 acres of first-crop hay. He farms with his brother, Dale, and daughter, Amanda. 

The two runner-up finishes at the national competition were somewhat of a surprise for the Grant County teams, Patterson said, but made for a “fun awards ceremony.” 

Members of the quiz bowl team were Libby Vogt, Cameron Patterson, Luke Patterson and Michael Edgington. Skillathon team members included Iris Adams, Aiden Patterson, Leah Patterson and Gwen Riedl. The students attend Mineral Point, Cassville and River Ridge high schools.  

Luke Patterson, Dennis’s nephew, says he participates in various judging contests so he can learn more about agriculture. His family raises beef, sheep and hogs, and grows crops on their farm near Bloomington. He is a senior at River Ridge High School in Patch Grove.  

“I am able to learn valuable new skills that will help me in the future,” he says of his involvement on livestock teams. “I feel like I have learned the most about hard work and dedication. It is not an easy task to have to work and study for these contests, especially when there are a million different things you have to be prepared for.” 

Luke estimated that the team practiced about three hours a week in the four months in advance of the national contest and he put in another 30 minutes a day for individual practice.   

The national skillathon finals against Illinois came down to the last question. The Wisconsin team was behind by three questions with three questions to go, and ended up getting the first two questions right.  

“We were down by one question with one question to go,” Luke says. “We got the last question wrong but we were still very excited with how we did, and how well we were able to represent not only our state but our county at a national level.” 

Iris Adams, a junior at Cassville High School, has been involved in skillathon for three years, and says she finds it interesting to learn “all the ins and outs of the livestock industry and everything that goes on behind the scenes.” 

She was originally encouraged to participate by friends and is happy she accepted the challenge. 

“The group of people I work with has become my family,” she says. “I have made lifelong friends and connections through this experience.” 

Adams says perhaps the most important thing she learned during the experience was the importance of working hard to achieve a goal. 

“If you want something you have to put in the work to get there,” she says. “I also learned how to speak confidently in front of others and problem solve. There are many life lessons that can be learned from being a part of competitions such as these.” 

Adams says she was “astounded” that the team finished in the runner-up position at the national competition. 

“It was pretty cool to know that my teammates and I were among the best skillathon individuals in the nation,” she says.   

Bernie O’Rourke, extension youth livestock specialist in the Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences and Division of Extension, supports 4-H members who compete in livestock contests across the state and organizes the state competitions on the UW-Madison campus. The state quiz bowl competition is in the animal sciences building while the more hands-on livestock skillathon contest is in the Stock Pavilion. 

O’Rourke says it’s rare for two teams from Wisconsin to place so high at the national level, especially two teams from the same county. 

“Being reserve national champions is nothing to shake a stick at,” O’Rourke says. “These kids put in a lot of time between (the state competition in) March and the national contest in November. They spend a lot of time practicing together and have to work on their own. These contests help the students improve their time-management and decision-making skills.” 

Patterson says the students have to learn all about various livestock species and might face questions on parts of the animal, hormones, nutrition, temperatures of various species, and lots more.  

“I tell the kids that they don’t have to know it all, but we throw a lot of different topics at them,” he says. “We might talk about ear notches on pigs but there’s no guarantee they’re going to see that on the quiz on the day of the contest. And there might be some things that we don’t talk about that they’re going to see. I tell them to do their best, that’s all they can do. We’ll talk about it afterwards and learn from it.” 

O’Rourke says it takes about 40 people to make the state contests happen, between the various stations in the animal sciences building and Stock Pavilion. 

“We get help from students who are animal and dairy sciences majors, pre-vet students, and students who belong to other clubs that might not have an ADS major,” she says. 

O’Rourke teaches an ADS one-credit course on awareness of careers and industry interaction, and she can generally tell if a student has been involved in livestock competitions in 4-H before coming to college. 

“We find that kids who have participated in these events really have a leg up on their peers when they’re in a college 101 class,” she says. “It really prepares them well for when they are going into those careers.”      

Dennis Patterson says he tells participants he understands if they have other conflicts on the days on which they hold practices.  

“If you have a basketball game or practice or a music or family event, I understand that,” he says. “They’re involved in a lot of things.” 

He encourages team members to study at home, and he says “it shows” when they do.  

While Patterson has been coaching livestock teams for nearly four decades, he isn’t ready to call it quits just yet. 

“I always said when my kids got out of it I was going to be done,” he says. “But then my nieces and nephews came along, with a lot of other kids. And it won’t be long before some of my grandkids will be in the mix. It’s kind of fun when you think about it.” 

Patterson will be inducted into the Wisconsin 4-H Hall of Fame in April for his longtime efforts with 4-H youth.