Special to Iredell Free News

Eight North Iredell High School students recently competed at the North Carolina State FFA Livestock Evaluation Career Development Event in Raleigh.

The Senior Team was awarded sith place out of 91 teams in the state in this event. Team members were Natalie Tucker, Abby Martin, Codi Barker and Alleigh Johnson. Natalie Tucker placed 10th highest among individual competitors in the senior division out of 343 contestants.

The Junior Team also claimed sixth place out of 82 teams in the state in this event. Team members were Andrew Ladd, Hayley King, Mackenzie Puckett and Dalton Jordan. Andrew Ladd placed third highest among individual competitors in the junior division out of 270 contestants.

Lauren Irby is FFA advisor at North Iredell High School.

The purpose of the Livestock Evaluation Career Development Event is to provide a competitive event for agricultural education students, emphasizing skills in livestock evaluation, selection, and management as taught through the agricultural education curriculum. The objectives of this event include Understanding and interpreting performance data based on industry standards; Selecting and marketing livestock that will provide increased economic returns; Communicating industry terminology effectively; and Identification of criteria used in grading livestock.