BROOKINGS, S.D. - Tyson Fresh Meats is donating $150,000 to the South Dakota State University Kohler-Gee Livestock Judging Team Endowment, Tyson Foods Inc. and the university's Animal Science Department recently announced.
"We're proud to support South Dakota State University and the young men and women who are the future leaders of agriculture," said Steve Stouffer, president of Tyson Fresh Meats. "Communication skills, accountability and responsibility are just a few of the positive outcomes that are a result of participating in the livestock judging program."
Surrounded by members of SDSU's junior and senior livestock judging teams, Livestock Judging Coach Joshua Cribbs expressed appreciation for the donation during the recent South Dakota State 4-H livestock judging contest.
"I have had the privilege of meeting the four men who assembled this endowment fund - Buck Kohler, Dan Gee, David Anderson and Robert Hansen," Cribbs said. "All of these individuals know the importance of what our judging teams do and the impact the members of the teams have after their judging career is over. This donation supports all of the hard work and dedication our judging kids put forth day in and day out and we cannot express how much this truly means to our program here at SDSU."
The Kohler-Gee Endowment is used to provide a portion of the salary for a full-time livestock judging coach and funds to support youth livestock judging camps and programs. Thirty-one students currently participate as part of the SDSU junior and senior livestock judging teams.
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Two sessions of SDSU Youth Livestock Judging Camp were offered during 2016. Close to 100 participants ranged in age from 8 to 18, and came from South Dakota, North Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa and Colorado, according to Cribbs. Dates have not yet been set for the 2017 camp sessions.
