Since 1988, the Noble Foundation has sponsored a contest called the Junior Beef Excellence Program. This program recognizes the carcass merit of steers exhibited at junior livestock shows by 4-H and FFA members in eight south-central Oklahoma counties - Carter, Garvin, Jefferson, Johnston, Love, Marshall, Murray and Stephens. After their respective county livestock shows, steers are harvested at a commercial packing facility. Carcass measurements are taken and used to rank steers. The top 10 entries are then awarded prize money for their respective placing.
For the 2014 contest, a recordkeeping and interview contest was incorporated with the intent of enhancing the educational value of the program. Participants submitted their information in paper format; then an interview was conducted where participants were judged based on their thoroughness, detail and overall knowledge of what it took to raise their animal and how it performed.
To keep up in a technological world, the Noble Foundation recently released a mobile recordkeeping app as part of the program. The app will provide 4-H and FFA students with the ability to capture key pieces of information from the field as they raise steers for competition. While the app was originally designed for students participating in the program, it can be used by any student or producer to maintain individual records.
The app is called Noble Jr. Beef Journal and is available for free download on iTunes and on Google Play for Android devices. The app can also be used on a computer, not just a smartphone.
With this app, users will be able to:
- Create multiple steer profiles
- Nominate steers for the Noble Foundation's Junior Beef Excellence Program.
- Record steer identifiers, such as ear tag numbers.
- Log body weight measurements.
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