104 youth from four states attended the ninth annual Badger Dairy Camp held on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus June 14-16.

The camp included dairy cattle showmanship and judging competitions. In the showmanship competition, Theresa Madland of Lyndon Station and Steffi Sabel of Chilton were the winners of the novice division. Garrett Madland of Lyndon Station, Allan Wolf of Bonduel, and Evan Bremberger of Hartland topped the intermediate division. Trent Styczynski of Pulaski won the advanced division. Each winner received a show halter to recognize their achievement.

In the junior judging competition, Sean Brown of Dodgeville was the overall high individual with a score of 324, Nicholas Schuster of Fond du Lac finished second with a score of 320. Overall winner in the senior division was Rebecca Schlehlein of Sussex with a score of 371. Second place went to Matt Henkes of Luana, IA, with a score of 366. Rocco Cunningham of Penngrove, CA, won the senior oral reasons competition with Jordan Hanson, coming in a close second.

The camp”s sportsmanship award recognizes a youth who exhibits a positive attitude and is courteous and cooperative throughout the weekend. The award is voted on by the campers and counselors. This year”s winner was Rocco Cunningham of Penngrove, CA.

Ted Halbach, Corey Geiger, Dr. Dave Dickson and Laurie Winkelman were the primary instructors for this year”s camp. They also had the help of 25 other volunteers throughout the weekend. Camp would also not have been possible without the help of its 12 gold level and 18 silver level sponsors, which funded about half of the actual program expenses.

At camp, young people between the ages of 12 and 18 receive a jump-start on their summer dairy project activities, learning about dairy fitting, showmanship, and judging while developing life skills in self-confidence, teamwork and sportsmanship. For more information about Badger Dairy Camp, go to the Wisconsin Dairy Youth website. You can also contact Ted Halbach at (608) 263-3305 or tjhalbach@wisc.edu.