pilipiliÂþ»­

March 4^th marked the 4^th Annual Maritime Intercollegiate Judging Competition (MIJC) held here on the Dalhousie Agricultural Campus. This year teams came from across Canada to compete in the competition all day Saturday. The Intercollegiate teams included University of Saskatchewan, Guelph University, Macdonald Campus of McGill University, Laval University and 5 teams from Dalhousie Agricultural Campus. Each year the competition has continued to grow and this marks the largest competition yet with 45 competitors. This was also the second year that a 4-H division was included in the competition with 10 4-H members competing.

Intercollegiate judging competitions are agriculture based competitions where students rely on their knowledge of the agriculture industry both learned and through experience. MIJC is unique in that it is the only judging competition held in the Maritimes and as such included Nova Scotian classes like Oysters and Mink. The morning crop classes also consisted of Computer Hard Drives, Sparkplugs, Photography, Grains, Specialty Crops and a Meat Cut ID Quiz. The afternoon livestock classes consisted of Beef, Goat, Sheep, Colostrum and a Breed Origin Quiz.

After a judging filled day, 4-H awards were presented to the competitors that competed in the 4-H division after the competition. A banquet was held in the evening and the awards were handed out for the intercollegiate division by co-chairs Hannah Jamieson and Janessa Henry. The MIJC committee would like to thank all the judges, class suppliers, sponsors and competition supporters for making this competition possible.

Intercollegiate Results

Top Team

1^st -  Dal 2 (Andrew Greene, Kait Berkvens, Arin Douglas, Nicole MacEachern)
2^nd – University of Saskatchewan (Adriane Good, Kate Barnett, Samantha Rimke, Melissa Baxter)
3^rd – Mother Heifers (Guelph) (Derek Van De Walle, Matt Lange, Ava Doner, Brigette Herrema)

Top Individual

1^st – Andrew Greene, Dal 2
2^nd – Adriane Good, University of Saskatchewan
3^rd – Emily Simms, Dal 3
4^th – Derek Van De Walle, Mother Heifers (Guelph)
5^th – Arin Douglas, Dal 2

4-H Results

Top Team

1^st – Scotsburn 4-H (Felicia Graham, Rachael Graham, Tyler MacLean)
2^nd – Triple Threat (Kelsey Morehouse, Megan Whitehead, Emma Crossen)
3^rd – Saltspringers (Brianne Sutherland, Ryleigh Sutherland, Lydia Tobin, Elizabeth Heighton)

Top Individual

1^st – Megan Whitehead, Triple Threat
2^nd – Lydia Tobin, Saltspringers
3^rd – Brianne Sutherland, Saltspringers