Interview with Brooke Hendrickx, Wool Judge at 4th Annual Small Scale Sustainable Sheep Farming Event 2018

By Alethea Kenney

Brooke Hendrickx will be at the 4th Annual Small Scale Sustainable Sheep Farming Event February 17 in Fosston at the New Journey Church, where she will talk about wool and judge fleeces. 

Brooke grew up on the farm where she worked hand in hand with her dad raising and lambing out 165 crossbred production ewes. She currently resides in Brookings, SD, where she attends South Dakota State University, and studies Agriculture Science. The past year Brooke served on the Minnesota FFA State Officer team as the Region 1 President, at the same time she was on the SDSU Wool Judging Team. Through the judging team Brooke was able to judge at the National Western Stock Show and Rodeo, the Houston Stock Show and Rodeo, and work out at many other universities along the way. At the National Western, Brooke was the high placings individual, 6th high individual overall, and helped her team place 3rd overall. In her spare time Brooke likes to patriate in SDSU Block&Bridle, Jackrabbit Memorial, traveling the country, showing livestock, and being on the farm. In the future Brooke hopes to either take over the family farm, or start a production flock of her own.

 

1. Hi Brooke, thanks so much for taking the time to answer some questions about yourself and what you do.  You grew up on a family farm with crossbred production sheep.  What got you interested in judging wool?

“Just like most kids who grew up with sheep, I have always had to help shear sheep right before lambing, and for shows. From there I knew sheep would always be a part of my life. I heard about wool judging through a Block&Bridle meeting, and decided to give it a try. I went to my first practice so nervous, because I didn’t know what I was doing, and I was pretty bad at giving reason. Walking away from that practice though, I knew that this was the right thing for me to do.” 

 

2. What does judging wool entail?  What are you looking for in a fleece?

“Colligate wool judging includes placing 6 to 8 classes that are either breed classes or commercial classes. 3-4 sets of oral reasons, and one rail; which includes 14 fleeces and estimating the micron, yield, staple length, character, and checking for breaks. In the fleeces we are judging, we are looking for a large outlined, high yielding fleece, that is free of breaks, has a low lanolin content, and will yield the most total pounds, returning either the better genetics back to the flock or results in a high paycheck.”

 

3. You’ve judged several shows at the national level.  What do you enjoy most about doing that?  

“For me the greatest part of colligate wool judging is all the connections you make. The friends I have made on my team, and the friends I have made along the way will be lifelong friends. Even though we are competitive with each other, at the end of the day they are some of the greatest and most humble people I know, and they want to see you succeed. Some of them are people you are going to be working with for the rest of your life in an industry that you all have a great passion for, to me that is one of the greatest things. Another thing I love is the traveling we do, yes we do kind of live out of van for a few days, but it brings you closer as a team, they become your second family. Plus when we need a break or need to stretch our legs we usually find a place that we can take a quick tour of, or make a quick detour to a famous place along the way.” 

 

4. You are also very active in FFA (Future Farmers of America) and majoring in Animal Science at SDSU.  Do you plan to stay involved with organizations and if so, what are your goals?

“Most people think that when you gradate high school or even college you are automatically done with those extra circulators, but in reality you aren’t. After I receive my American Degree I will begin the process of becoming an FFA Alumni, where I will be able to help other students through the program. Whether that be coaching judging teams, or volunteering at Alumni events. I am a firm believer that students involved in FFA become some of the most influential people in today’s world. And that all starts with the adults who help them through that process. That goes for Block&Bridle and Jackrabbit Memorial as well, I will donate to their causes because we do a lot with youth from rural population to inner city. Through ag in the classroom, to ag day at the pavilion, we are helping students learn where their food comes from. To me that is the most rewarding when you see their faces light up when they see all the ingredients that go into their pizza and what animal or plant produces them.” 

 

5. Your experience on the farm and education in agriculture provide you with a great background for animal production.  If you go back to your roots on the farm, what would be your focus? 

“Going back to my roots is definitely in my future. Through the farm I have grown an inborn fondness for animal agriculture and what it stands for. If you haven’t already guessed it, but my focus will be in the sheep industry. Growing up with them they are my go to, they also teach you a lot of patience, and that life isn’t a cake walk. I will focus on producing a safe, wholesome product for the consumers, just like what my family does now.” 

 

6. What would you like to see in the agriculture community for the future?

“My hopes for the future of agriculture are that we all keep coming together to produce that healthy product for the consumers, the best way we can with the limited resources we have. We are a special community of people who are so passionate about what we do, and we need to share that with the public, so we can build a stronger bridge between the American farmer and the consumer.” 

 

7. You work with wool in judging, do you work with wool for fiber art at all?

“No, I have not worked with wool for fiber art.” 

 

8. I’m sure you stay very busy between your education and wool judging, what do you enjoy doing in your time off?

“In my free time from school and school clubs I am either speding my time on the farm with my family, especially my nieces, milking cows, or watching college basketball!”

 

Thank you again, Brooke for taking the time to answer some questions. 

Brooke Hendrickx will be at the 4th Annual Small Scale Sustainable Sheep Farming Event February 17 at the New Journey Church.  She will be judging fleeces and giving information on wool.  If you are interested in bringing a fleece for judging, please contact the Sustainable Sheep and Fiber Community of Northern Minnesota sustainablesheep@gmail.com. For more information, or to see other speakers and activities taking place at the event please visit sheepcommunity.com.