Your kids will soon be on Christmas break, and with no school to keep them occupied, boredom could soon set in. After chores are done, how about engaging your kids with an essay contest?

Jared Decker, University of Missouri beef genetics Extension assistant professor, recently asked BEEF to be a part of the newly announced Beef Genetics Education National Essay Contest.

Geared toward youth participating in 4-H, FFA and junior beef breed associations, the essay theme aims to answer the question, “What does it mean to be a beef breeder in the 21st century?”

The essays must be at least 600 words long but no longer than 3,000 words. The entries are due Feb. 15, 2017, and can be submitted here. Judges will evaluate the essays based on how effectively the student encourages best practices, technology adoption and sustainability of these methods for the beef cattle industry.

The winning essay will be published and announced on the BEEF Daily blog this February and will receive a $500 prize. Additional prizes will be awarded, with $300 for second place and $200 for third, respectively. The first place winner will also receive 50 GeneMax Focus or PredicGEN tests.

Winning essays will also be published on “A Steak In Genomics” blog.

The contest is sponsored by BEEF, Zoetis and GeneSeek. According to a press release promoting the contest, “This educational program and essay contest is part of the "Identifying Local Adaptation and Creating Region-Specific Genomic Predictions in Beef Cattle" funded by the USDA-NIFA, Grant No. 2016-68004-24827.”

The possibilities are endless for the direction your kids could take in writing this essay. Help them brainstorm over the holiday break and encourage them to submit an essay to this new contest.

I look forward to reading the winning essay and sharing it with all of you here. If you have some ideas for the youth, consider sharing them in the comments section below. I’m sure the youth (and their parents) would appreciate the ranching community’s insight on this exciting topic!

The opinions of Amanda Radke are not necessarily those of beefmagazine.com or Penton Agriculture.