Nine Cherokee FFA and 4-H members competed July 16-18 at the OSU Big 3 Field Days. Each day, seven classes of animals were evaluated. The first day was five classes of sheep and two classes of meat goats. On the second day more than 1,500 students evaluated seven classes of beef cattle. Drake Williams, Cherokee FFA, won second high individual in the senior FFA division. The final day, a record-breaking 1,857 students from multiple states evaluated seven classes of swine.

Taking part in the cattle grading competition are (from left, front row) Jalyn Lundry, Gavin Guffy, Wyatt Parker; (back row) Treavor Green, Riley Hensley, Joel Parker, Kota Parker, Waylon Utterback.

In addition to the Big 3 Field Days, Cherokee students also competed at the Perkins Commercial Cattle Grading. This was the first cattle grading contest that these students had competed in. The 4-H and FFA members were not divided into separate divisions. The FFA teams comprised of Kota Parker, Treavor Green, Waylon Utterback and Riley Hensley placed 15th out of 65 teams. Kota Parker was 25th individual out of 261 students. The 4-H teams comprised of Joel Parker, Wyatt Parker, Jalyn Lundry, and Gavin Guffy placed 27th overall.

The next commercial cattle grading contest will be held during the Tulsa State Fair.