LIHUE — Chantal Rusaw was named Second Individual Overall during the 4-H Livestock Judging event at the Hawaii State Farm Fair on Oahu. She said none of what she accomplished would have been possible without the aid of scholarships from
LIHUE — Chantal Rusaw was named Second Individual Overall during the 4-H Livestock Judging event at the Hawaii State Farm Fair on Oahu. She said none of what she accomplished would have been possible without the aid of scholarships from the Kauai County Farm Bureau.
“None of this could have happened without the help of the Kauai County Farm Bureau,” Rusaw, who also earned Top Beef judge, and Second Overall Individual honors at the state competition.
Rusaw was one of six students receiving scholarships for study in an agricultural field Sunday during the annual Kauai County Farm Bureau meeting at the Kauai War Memorial Convention Hall.
She was joined by Brittney Yoshida, recipient of a Farm Family Scholarship, due to her mother Laurie Yoshida being involved in agriculture.
Billie Ann Bukoski, being named Top Meat judge during the state farm fair competition, is studying agriculture along with Christina Martiney, an undergraduate at Oregon State University, Kira Blackstad-Pimental and Aubrey Kay.
Valerie Kaneshiro of Kaneshiro Farms was thrilled her farm was one of the support training facilities where the judging team worked on developing their judging skills for the state farm fair.
“They’re all in livestock,” she said.
Laurie Ho, president of the Kauai County Farm Bureau, said the 4-H Judging Team was a partnership between the Kauai County Farm Bureau and the Family and Friends of Agriculture to send the Senior Team, and an individual Junior to the Hawaii State Farm Fair on Oahu for the judging.
Rusaw will be joining the state 4-H National Livestock Judging Team to compete in Denver later this year. She said things at the state fair are different than the Kauai County Farm Bureau Fair.
“As a judge, you look at different animals and still keep objective,” Rusaw said. “Here, you raise the livestock for the fair. You know what the judges are looking for, and work to build for that. As a judge, you look at all the animals and can feel the differences in the animals. It’s an entirely different experience.”
Ho said funds for the scholarships come from the Kauai County Farm Fair that will run Aug. 25 to 28 at Vidinha Stadium.
“This is our only fundraiser of the year,” Ho said. “We get everything we need to operate from the farm fair.”
