Over 800 FFA and 4-H members from Illinois and Indiana participated in the 26th annual LLCC Livestock Judging Contest on Thursday at the Christian County Fairgrounds in Taylorville. The contest was hosted by the LLCC Livestock Judging Team and Agriculture Club.

Livestock judging teaches students critical thinking skills, public speaking and can lead to collegiate scholarships. Contestants in the event judge classes of beef, swine, sheep and goats, and they evaluate the animals on their quality as either breeding stock or for meat.

LLCC will be hosting the national Professional Agricultural Student (PAS) Conference March 11-14 on its campus in Springfield. There will be approximately 500 attendees, including agriculture students and faculty from across the country.

The theme for the 2024 conference is Cultivating Character: Agriculture’s Future Grows Here. PAS is a nationally recognized student organization that brings education and industry together in agriculture.

Richard Teeter, professor of agriculture, recently attended electrical and hydraulic diagnostic technical training through Sloan, one of the largest John Deere dealerships. “I will be incorporating this into my precision ag and fertilizer equipment classes,” he says. “Students will gain valuable knowledge in installing and troubleshooting precision ag equipment.” Teeter plans to purchase multi-meters and diagnostic training units to use in the classroom beginning this semester. Sloan has also offered to bring machinery to campus and host classes at Sloan’s local facilities for real-world training.