You are from Michican, correct?
First of all let's look at it from a commercial stand point - contrary to what a lot of people will tell you on here - the "market" prefers black. Nobody cares if red/white cattle breeders like it, that's the way it is. So, if a judge is more commercial oriented, if he is doing what he's supposed to and two calves are equal in all other aspects, he should be favoring black calves. That's what the vast majority of the feedlots want. Using Herefords for example, sales of commercial Hereford cattle have gotten so bad they are actually pretty hard to find. One of the most famous of all time - Lone Star Hereford Ranch near where I live - gave up the ghost and got rid of the last of their Hereford's a couple of weeks ago.
The tendency toward favoratism toward black isn't as strong in the south as it is in your part of the world. You are at ground zero for black cattle in the northern U.S. From a practical standpoint, there are so many more of them to pick from in your part of the world that statistically there are going to be more good black ones than colored animals.
Finally, as an exhibitor, it's not your place to complain about or change what judges want. If you want to do well, you have to listen to judges/leaders/etc and have the kind of calves that they do want in your area. Also, at the absolute highest levels of competition, there is not nearly the amount of cheating/rule breaking/etc that everyone wants to think. And there certainly isn't at a county fair. If you truly despise competietion, why are you even showing animals? That's the whole point of showing. If you don't enjoy competietion, you'll never enjoy showing. Become involved with some other aspect of a cattle project.
My guess is you don't really despise it, you are frustrated you didn't do well. Good advice doesn't involve telling someone what they want to hear, it involves telling them the truth. My advice for next year - go buy the best black steer you can afford and do your best with him. Enjoy your project whether you win or not. But don't fight an uphill battle by trying to go against what the judges prefer in your area.
And finally, I don't think there has ever been a calf that won a county fair that someone didn't accuse the winner of cheating in some fashion or form. That's called gossiping and whining. Just stop it! It's not becoming of anyone to whine. If you really believed it, go report it to the show officials.
I wrote the original post before I saw some of your additional information. One of the biggest mistakes you can make is having too many show calves. The last place calf will eat just as much feed as the first place. If your goal is really to do well at your county fair - get one calf. Take the money you'd spend buying the others (I'm guessing at market price) and feeding them and you could go buy a really good steer somewhere. If you can spend $1,000 above market price, you can usually find a pretty good one somewhere. Listen to your aunt. If doing well at the show is not your primary goal - that's fine to. But don't get down about doing poorly and gripe about it. You have to be focused and concentrate on your primary goal with anything in life.
