Dodge County tops inaugural State Junior 4-H Dairy Judging Contest
Dodge County won the first-ever Junior State 4-H Dairy Judging Contest, held September 5 at the Iowa County Fair in Mineral Point. LaCrosse County finished second in the contest and Waupaca County placed third. The top two teams from each of the four Area Animal Science Days were invited to compete at this contest. Seven teams from across Wisconsin participated.
“The county coaches brought up the idea of a junior contest at meetings we held last year at each of the Area Animal Science Day sites. Their feeling was the contest would serve both as an incentive for all the juniors and a reward for those who did well at the area contests,” explained contest coordinator Ted Halbach, UW-Madison extension dairy youth specialist. “If this contest can help these youth stay interested in the industry, it’s a small investment and a ‘no brainer’ on our part to do it. I am definitely in favor of this becoming an annual event.”
To be eligible for this contest all junior contestants must have passed their 9th birthday and must not have passed their 14th birthday on January 1 of this year. The county teams were composed of the three top-scoring individuals from the team at their qualifying Area Animal Science Day. The fourth team member could be selected by the county, but the youth must have participated with the county team at their respective Area Animal Science Day.
The youth placed eight classes of cattle and also answered five type analysis questions for four classes. In type analysis questions, also called TAQs, contestants identify specific traits that relate to an animal’s conformation. For example, the youth may be asked to identify which is the tallest cow in a class, or which cow has the highest rear udder attachment. This portion of the contest is designed to help youth recognize certain traits about cows as they pertain to that specific class.
Seth Nehls of Dodge Country and Sean Perronne of Sheboygan County were separated by only 10 points to finish 1-2 in the overall individual competition. Brett Hildebrandt of Dodge County placed third and Courtney Perronne of Sheboygan County was 8 points behind in fourth. Kirstie Langrehr and Ranae Holthaus, both of LaCrosse County, placed fifth and sixth respectively.
In the TAQ section Seth Nehls, Sean Perronne, Courtney Perronne and Cassi Muenzenberger placed 1-4 respectively. They all scored 85 points of a possible 85 points, and their overall placing scores broke the tie. LaCrosse County won the TAQ section of the contest with Sheboygan County just 5 points behind them in second.
Seth Nehls, Brett Hildebrandt, Janelle Remington and Felicia Bohn were on the winning Dodge County team, which was also third in TAQs. They were coached by Kevin Jorgenson and Todd and Christa Wendorf.
The second place team overall and first place in TAQs was the LaCrosse County team of Kirstie Langrehr, Ranae Holthaus, Cassi Muenzenberger and Brittany Rhyme. Jennifer Clark and Don Langrehr were their coaches.
The Waupaca County team of Brett Sawall, Sheri Kirchner, Danae Bauer and Bret Long was the third team overall and they were coached by Bruce Hoeft.
Placing fourth overall and taking second in the TAQ section was Sheboygan County. Their team was composed of Sean and Courtney Perronne, Ann Jens and Stacey Kirsch, and their coaches were Chris Booth and Jeff Bleck.
“This year we had separate sites for both the junior and senior contests because we didn’t want to overcrowd the judging rings at our contest sites. I think by having just junior participants at Mineral Point it really made it feel like it was the junior’s day – and these youth seemed to enjoy the competition and did a great job,” stated Halbach. “I can’t say enough about the cooperation that we received from the dairy exhibitors at the Iowa County Fair. Every animal we asked to use was volunteered and in many cases their youth exhibitors led them in the contest.”
Several volunteers assisted with this contest including Deb Ivey, Iowa County 4-H Youth Agent; Greg Stumpf and Mark Brown, who both exhibit at the fair and helped organize classes; and the contest scorers: Melanie Miller, UW-Extension 4-H Youth Development, and Sharon McDowell, Barron County 4-H Youth Agent.