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Area Well Represented in National Livestock Judging
(IRN) -- Two of the top livestock judging programs in the nation are being led by men who grew up in the same county in Western Illinois.

The livestock judging coach at Iowa State University is Jon DeClerck, while the coach at the University of Illinois is Dan Shike. They're both from Mercer County -- DeClerck from Aledo and Shike from Alexis.

"We are very fortunate to have two people that are at the helms of national programs like that," DeClerck says -- though he says given Mercer County''s history in production livestock, it’s not too surprising.

DeClerck says he and Shike both grew up on livestock farms, and competed against each other with livestock at the county fair as youths.

Another top livestock judging program is Oklahoma State University, coached by Blake Bloomberg of Abingdon in Knox County, also in Western Illinois. Bloomberg was a college roommate of DeClerk's at Blackhawk College East in Kewanee.

(Illinois Radio Network)
06 18 11 by Newsroom
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