Che Trejo wins 2022 UF Top Rancher Challenge at FCA Convention

UF/IFAS Extension introduced a new concept at the Florida Cattlemen’s Convention and Allied Trade Show, in Marco Island that was a big hit.   The 2022 UF Top Rancher Challenge was a friendly, yet challenging competition that allowed participants at the Trade Show to test their knowledge of beef cattle, forages, weed science, veterinary medicine, and ranch management.  The Top Rancher Challenge was a 21-question multiple choice test taken using tablets provided at the UF/IFAS trade show booth. The challenge was organized by Chris Prevatt, UF/IFAS Livestock Economist, with assistance from cattle, forage, and weed specialists for questions.  “The Top Rancher Challenge provided us with the opportunity to find out what Florida ranchers knew, as well as for everyone who participated an opportunity to learn from questions that they missed. The 21-question multiple choice test was developed to be tough even for the most seasoned Ranchers.  No one knew it all, but it was impressive to see how well many of Florida’s top ranchers scored in the challenge.”

There were 179 ranchers that  participated in the 2022 University of Florida Top Rancher Challenge. Overall, the test proved to be as tough as it was intended to be. The average score was 52, the median score was 51, and the range was 10 to 96 out of a possible 106 points, with the bonus question.

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We would like to congratulate Dr. Che Trejo, Technical Services Veterinarian for Merck, from Walnut Hill, Florida (Escambia County), as the Champion of the 2022 University of Florida Top Rancher Challenge. Out of the 179 Ranchers that competed, Dr. Trejo stood out as the clear champion with a score of 96 out of a possible 106.

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Dr. Chejo took home the championship buckle, but all of the top ten participants won a Yeti Rambler like the one Laura was holding in the photo above.  As you will see in the chart below, the competition was tight with five participants tied for 5th place.

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The UF/IFAS County Agents and State Specialists had an awesome time putting together this test and interacting with producers and industry representatives at the 2022 Florida Cattlemen’s Convention and Allied Trade Show. For those of you who were not able to compete this year, use the following link to see how many of these questions you would have known the answer for.  The green bar denote the correct answer for each question:

2022 UF Top Rancher Challenge Questions and Answers

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We greatly appreciate everyone that participated this year and hope to have even greater participation in 2023.  Stop by the UF/IFAS trade show booth at the 2023 FCA Convention next year to compete to be the 2023 University of Florida Top Rancher Challenge Champion.