Thirteen senior dairy judging teams and nine individuals from across the state will travel to the Wisconsin State Fair Aug. 7 to compete for the State 4-H Champion title and the opportunity to move on to national-level competition. The teams and individuals were selected from four statewide district judging contests as part of the 4-H Area Animal Science Days program. Contestants judged eight classes of dairy cows and heifers at each contest; in addition, seniors gave reasons and juniors answered conformation-related questions.

A total of 443 4-Hers competed in the junior and senior divisions at the district contests; 192 seniors from 40 teams and 251 juniors from 44 teams represented their counties at the contests. Teams comprise three to eight members. Two, three, or four top senior teams from each district, as well as the top one to three individuals not from those high teams, were chosen to move on to the state contest.

“We are encouraged by the level of participation,” said Ted Halbach, Extension dairy youth specialist at the UW-Madison”s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. “In listening to reasons at each of the contests, I was impressed by the knowledge that the youth demonstrated and by the marked statewide improvement in their presentations this year.”

According to Halbach, “It takes a tremendous volunteer effort to make Wisconsin”s 4-H dairy judging program successful. In addition to contest volunteers, coaches and practice herds give their time and effort freely to provide these youth with a positive dairy experience. All this hard work helps to encourage future involvement in the industry. We really appreciate all of these contributions from volunteers.”

Halbach also emphasized that dairy judging promotes improved communication and decision-making skills among the participating youth.

Northwest Area Animal Science Day – Eau Claire, Eau Claire County

Eau Claire County hosted the Northwest Area Animal Science Day in Eau Claire June 27. Barron County edged out Vernon County seniors by only 6 points, gaining both teams automatic berths in the state contest. The 3rd place team from Polk County and the 4th place team from St. Croix will also represent the Northwest district at the state fair.

In the individual senior contest, Mark Riebe of Barron County won 1st place overall honors, followed by Amanda Stone of Polk County. Seventh-high individual Tony Galgowski and 9th place Tom Knegendorf, both of Pierce County, were selected as individuals to compete at the state level.

St. Croix County won first among the junior teams. In second place were the Dunn County juniors. Stephanie Merritt from Dunn County won the Northwest junior contest over St. Croix County team member Jake Kruschke in a tie broken by type questions.

Northeast Area Animal Science Day Dairy Contest – Amherst

On June 30th, the Northeast district contest was held in Amherst. Calumet County”s seniors won the senior contest by 24 points over their nearest competitor, Dodge County. Coming in third was Door County. All three teams will join the state contest field.

The high senior individual overall at the Northeast contest was Jeff Brantmeier from Calumet County, and second place went to Kevin Ryan from Fond du Lac County. Kevin will be heading to the state contest as a senior individual, along with 7th place Dan Bauer from Waupaca and 9th place Laurie Volkman from Outagamie County.

In the junior team competition, Fond du Lac County won first place in a tie with Wood County. The tie was broken by Type Analysis Question totals. Jacob Brey of Door County earned high individual honors by 2 points, followed in 2nd by Kristin Natzke of Fond du Lac County.

Southwest Area Animal Science Day – Mineral Point, Iowa County

On June 28, four senior teams from the Southwest district earned spots at the state contest. Columbia finished first, followed closely by La Crosse County. Only 3 points separated third-place Green County from fourth-place Dane County, and they will be traveling to the state contest with the first- and second-place teams.

Winning the overall senior competition in the Southwest was Daniel Walker of Calumet County. Walker and Joe Sarbacker of Dane County were tied for first; Walker earned high individual honors based on a higher reasons score. Charlotte Muenzenberger was only one point behind in third. Fourth place Mitch Amundson of Grant County and 10th place Sarah Herges of Iowa County were the two individuals chosen for the state contest.

The Grant County juniors placed first overall in the junior team division by three points over Dane County. Kelly Sime from Dane County was named the top junior individual, followed in second by Scott Pagenkopf of Grant County.

Southeast Area Animal Science Day Dairy Contest – Elkhorn

The Southeast district dairy judging contest was held June 20 in Elkhorn. Jefferson County”s seniors topped the team from Walworth County by 5 points; both teams will head to the state contest.

Winning the overall senior competition was Jerome Meyer of Walworth County, with Alane Uhe from Rock County following in second place. Alane will compete as an individual at the state contest along with fourth-place Brett Barlass of Rock County.

In the junior contest of the Southeast District, the Dodge County team took the trophy over Manitowoc County. Brandon Nehls of Dodge County was the high individual junior judge, followed in second by teammate Shawn Nehls. Justin Ulness of Manitowoc was the third high individual, only one point behind the second-place finisher.