BY CLIFF SMELLEY
The last time Lizzie Whitehead brought a Bradford County 4-H livestock judging team to a Kiwanis Club of Starke meeting, she said the team had “completed the impossible” by winning a state championship.
That was in 2023.
When she brought the 2025 team to the Kiwanis Club’s June 10 meeting at The Downtown Grill in Starke, she got to share that the impossible had once again become the possible.
“We’ve done it again,” said Whitehead, the UF/IFAS livestock and natural-resources agent for Bradford County who coaches the team.
The work toward this year’s state championship began at the end of October 2024. The team will continue its training as well as attend camps at the University of Florida and University of Tennessee in preparation for nationals, which take place in November in Louisville, Kentucky.
“They get a whole year with me,” Whitehead said, adding, “These kids have really improved. I’m excited to take them to Louisville.”
Competing on this year’s team are Jake Markham, Kelsey Reddish, Madison Stein and Macie Wilson. Each spoke at the Kiwanis meeting.
Wilson said this is her fourth year on the Bradford team, adding, “I was actually the alternate on the past state-championship team.” She then talked about how being on the team has benefitted her in the areas of public speaking and livestock shows.
“I’m now able to be comfortable in public, talking to so many people,” Wilson said. “It has also taught me so many things about showing. I show steers and heifers in the Union County fair. It has taught me how to properly pick the right animal to make sure that I will have a good chance up there.”
Wilson, who’s entering her senior year of high school, wants to earn a master’s degree in Animal Sciences at the University of Florida, but would welcome the opportunity to be a part of another college’s livestock judging team.
“I’m most likely going to take (that opportunity) because that is the avenue I want to go down,” Wilson said.
Stein is in her sixth year of livestock judging, though this is her first year on the Bradford 4-H team.
“I can truly say that Ms. Lizzie has made a world of difference in the way that I judge,” Stein said.
Like Wilson, Stein talked about how being on the team has taught her so much more than how to judge livestock.
“Over time, judging becomes so much more than just evaluating livestock or giving oral reasons,” Stein said. “It taught me how to think critically, communicate clearly and make decisions with confidence.”
Stein said the lessons she’s learned she’ll “carry with me beyond the contest room.”
The laughter she’s shared with her teammates and how they’ve pushed each other to be their best have created special memories.
“For me, this team has become more than just judging,” Stein said. “It represents friendship, growth and the kind of connection that comes from spending countless hours chasing a shared goal.”
Stein, who is entering her senior year of high school, wants to do livestock judging for a junior college in the Midwest and then transfer to a four-year school.
Markham, who’s in his first year of livestock judging, said he’s excited to see what he and his teammates can accomplish after winning state.
“I’m so proud of how we did (at state), and I’m ready for all these camps and to get better,” he said.
Markham said livestock judging has helped him with his public-speaking skills. He said the fact he was talking before the Kiwanis Club was proof of that.
He’ll have a couple of more years of competing in livestock judging in 4-H as he’ll be a high school junior this upcoming school year. Markham would like to be part of a team after high school, too.
“I want to see if I can continue at the collegiate level with livestock judging,” he said.
Like Markham, Reddish is in her first year of livestock judging.
“Livestock judging has truly helped me overall, as the others have said, with public speaking and learning how to judge an animal,” Reddish said. “I show cattle, so it helps me be able to decide what cattle I should have on my ranch and in my breeding program.”
Reddish, who is entering her senior year of high school, said her plans are to major in Animal Sciences and become a large-animal veterinarian.
“I also plan to follow livestock judging at the collegiate level,” she said.
Reddish also expressed her thanks to the Kiwanis Club, saying, “You all really help build our community. We probably wouldn’t be here without you all. We truly just want to thank you all for your support.”
Support from the Kiwanis Club and the community as a whole paid fully for the 2023 team’s trip to nationals.
This year’s team is in the midst of raising funds for this year’s trip as well as for the trips to the livestock judging camps at the University of Florida and University of Tennessee.
If you’d like to make a donation in support of the team, please call Whitehead at the UF/IFAS Extension office in Bradford County at 904-966-6224. You may also email her at [email protected].
Donations of at least $150 get your name/company name on team members’ T-shirts. Donations of at least $1,000 (received by July 1) get your name/company name on team members’ jacket patches.
Whitehead said her goal is for the team to place in the top 10 at nationals. Bradford’s 4-H team will be one of approximately 40 competing.
“We have a lot of work to do,” Whitehead said. “We have a lot of talented people in this country who do livestock judging.”
Of course, she believes her team consists of four talented people as well.
“They’re a good group of youth who have a huge future ahead of them in the agriculture industry,” Whitehead said.
