Faming, Saturday, January 15,1953
a:
(lampion market lamb “jumps out and grabs”
BY SHEILA MILLER
FARM SHOW Imagine having
the responsibility of looking at
several hundred head of sheep in
just a few hours and then having to
pick the very best market lamb out
of the bunch. That would be an
insurmountable challenge for most
people, but not for University of
Illinois shepherd Richard Cobb.
In his second official visit to the
Pennsylvania Farm Show, Cobb
very deliberately and thoroughly
judged each class of market lambs
as they entered the small arena
show ring. Running his hands down
their backs, circling their leg loins
with both Ids hands, and studying
them with an eye that knows what
“lamb chops” should look like on
foot, Cobb analyzed each lamb for
traits of quality and quantity.
In one class of heavyweight
lambs, which pitted Lancaster
Countian Barbara Herr and her
wether against Chester Countian
Bill MacCauley and his ewe lamb.
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Harpster exhibited the reserve grand champion market lamb
at Farm Show. She attributes her win to her Suffolk lamb and
her “lucky shirt.” With Joyce is Judge Cobb.
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honors, David Harpster, right, of Boalsburg, Centre County
gives Julie a big hug of congratulations while Harpster's
father, Harold, shows his support for five-time-winner Julie.
Cobb scrutinized the top .two
animals from across the ring,
walked in to handle the lambs
several times, and after much
contemplation, chin-raking, and
frenzied gum chewing, gave the
blue ribbon to Herr’s wether.
“Both of these lambs were
worthy of winning,” said Cobb, in
giving his reasons for placing the
class. “Both showed the structural
correctness and length out to
rump, however my first place
lamb showed more condition,
muscularity and depth of loin.”
The same precise process of
elimination *fas used by Cobb to
select all his market lamb winners,
but not even his selection for grand
champion was as difficult as that
class of heavyweights. As a matter
of fact, Cobb said he was “so
impressed” with Centre Countian
Julie Kuzemchak's Hampshire x
Suffolk crossbred wether when he
handled it in class that he knew
which lamb, out of the hundreds he
With television cameras rolling, the excitement of the tagging of this year’s Farm Show
grand champion market lamb was captured on yards of film. Seventeen-year-oid Julie
Kuzemchak’s lamb wears the champion's banner while fellow Centre County 4-H’er
Joyce Harpster’s lamb was picked as the reserve grand champion.
judged, had to be grand champ.
“That’s a good sheep,” ex
claimed Cobb after the judging
was completed. “I was blown away
by that lamb it handles out of
this world. It just jumped out and
grabbed me. It’s a wonderful
feeling for any sheep judge to find
a lamb that you have to say ‘That
one’s got to be champion.’ ”
With the traditional back-pat.
Judge Cobb dubbed 17-year-old
Julie Kuzemchak’s Farm Show
market lamb the official 1983
Pennsylvania Farm Show Market
Lamb. This marks the fifth time
the petite, blue-eyed 4-H’er has
won this award, having taken the
title in 1978 (her first year of Farm
Show competition) and each year
thereafter until 1981. Last year
Julie’s lamb was tagged reserve
grand champion, but a Centre
County lamb shown by David
Harpster secured the top honors.
“You see,” said Julie, spoiling,
“it doesn’t matter who wins as long
as it’s someone from Centre
County. We’ve blocked out the
other counties for six years now.
We’re just one big family.”
And Julie’s sentiments seem to
have been bom out by the show
ring actions of last year’s grand
champion winner David Harpster,
his dad, and his sister Joyce who
exhibited this year’s reserve grand
champion market lamb. Happy
hugs were thrown around Julie by
David and warm congratulations
were offered by his dad. And
during an interview Joyce
remarked with team-spirit pride
that “the important thing is to
have the county do so good.’ ’
Back in the bam, after television
interviews and picture-taking
sessions were over, a more
relaxed Julie admitted that this
was the first time she’s ever been
nervous in the show ring. What
caused her jitters- which signaled
her lamb to jump and balk? Julie
said it was the amount of “good
competition” she was showing
against, and not the pressure to
regain the championship title.
Will she try to continue her
market lamb monopoly at next
year’s Farm Show? With a shrug
of her shoulders and a look at her
mother standing next to her, Julie
smiled and suggested that this
might be her final year of com
petition. But mother Gayle pointed
out that Julie is eligible to compete
for two more years if she desires.
Some of her reasons for possibly
not entering next year’s com
petition hinge on her demanding
school schedule. Julie is presently
studying x-ray technology at the
Polyclinic Medical Center. When
asked how she managed to skip
classes this week, Julie grinned
and said, “1 told them that if they
let me out of school I’d try to make
them proud of me. ”
Not only can the school be proud
of their special sheep-showing
student, but parents Richard and
Gayle Kuzemchak of Pleasant Gap
can be bursting with pride. Julie
notes that her father is employed
by Penn State as shepherd, but she
quickly adds that none of her
market lambs have come put of the
Penn State flock. This year’s
winner was purchased in Ohio.
Along with the children’s market
lambs, the Kuzemcfaaks have a
small flock of Dorset and South
down breeding sheep. Their sheep
are raised on a friend’s farm in
nearby Buffalo Run.
Along with her champion market
lamb win, Julie also captured the
reserve champion carcass- lamb
trophy, both on-foot and on-rail.
When asked what was the most
difficult part about showing
market lambs, since she. makes
winning seem easy, Julie admitted
it was the fact that after working
and winning with the lambs, she
knew they’d be slaughtered. “I cry
every year,” she confessed, as her
Lancaster County sheep showman Barbara Rohrer
demonstrated her relaxed, controlled style of handling her
lamb in the show ring. The 12-year-old’s showmanship ability
caught the eye of judge Richard Cobb who selected Barbara
as the grand champion showman during stiff competition on.
Wednesday at Farm Show. *
judge
eyes began to mist. “I get so at
tached to them.”
Fourteen-year-old Joyce Harp
ster also admitted to a special
attachment as she held onto her
reserve grand champion Suffolk
wether. With a blush of excitement
coloring her cheeks, she explained
that the blouse she was wearing is
her “lucky blouse.”
“I wore this blouse when I
showed this lamb and won the
county fair, and again when I won
at the Keystone International
Livestock Exposition," explained
Joyce, the daughter of Harold E.
and Shirley Harpster of Boalsburg.
Joyce didn’t recall if she had worn
the blouse when she picked out her ,
market lamb from the flock at'
Pine Haven Farm, Newville.
Although sheep are an important
part of tiie Harpster’s farm
operation, dairy cattle, goats and
hogs also share the 65-acre
operation. In the milking lineup, 35
head of registered Jerseys and
Holsteins are joined by 23 milking
does. And Spotted Swine and
Durocs belonging to Joyce and
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