The first of four Area Animal Science Days was held at Gays Mills in Crawford County on Friday, June 24. In the dairy cattle judging competition, 113 youth judged eight classes of dairy cows and heifers. In all, 52 senior judges gave oral reasons and 61 juniors answered conformation-related questions as they all competed for spots in their respective state contests.

For the first time, a State 4-H Junior Contest will be held for youth 10 to 14 years of age. This competition, slated for September 5 at the Iowa County Fair in Mineral Point, is in addition to the State 4-H Senior Contest that is used to determine which teams and individuals will move on to national-level competition.

In the Southwest”s senior division, the Vernon County team took first by 51 points over its nearest competitor, Grant County. Both teams gained automatic bids to the 4-H State Senior Dairy Judging Contest, which will be held July 29 at the Polk County Fair in St. Croix Falls. The third place team was LaCrosse County, followed by Dane County in fourth and Crawford County in fifth.

“Julie Larson, the Vernon County coach, has done a phenomenal job with her team,” stated the contest”s coordinator, Ted Halbach, UW-Madison extension dairy youth specialist. “The Vernon County kids are very experienced with tremendous knowledge of oral reasons. If I had to handicap the 4-H state dairy judging contest, they would definitely be among the front-runners.”

Winning the overall senior competition in the Southwest was Heather Petersheim of Vernon County, with Derek Petersheim, also of Vernon County, just 6 points behind in second place. In third place was Heather Scanlan from Grant County with 497 points; following in fourth and fifth were Grady Wubbenhorst and Chrissy Wendorf, both from Vernon County, with 491 and 490 points respectively.

The LaCrosse County juniors won the overall team competition in the junior division. Grant County juniors beat out the Vernon County team by 16 points to take second place. Dane County and Iowa County followed in fourth and fifth. Aylissa Yager from Iowa County was named the top junior individual, followed in second by Ranae Holthaus of LaCrosse County. Cassi Muenzenberger and Brittany Rhyme, both from LaCrosse County, each had 395 points for third and fourth place. Kirstie Langrehr of LaCrosse County followed closely behind in fifth with 393 points. The LaCrosse County juniors also took first and second place in Junior Group reasons, with Lafayette County close behind in third place.

Youth also competed in a showmanship contest during the event. Five youth were recognized as purple ribbon winners because of their superior showmanship efforts: Elizabeth Petersheim, Vernon County; Daniel Petersheim, Vernon County; Anthony Anderson, Green County; Heidi Solchenberger, Richland County; and Christopher Moore, Grant County.

Several volunteers also assisted with the Southwest Area Animal Science Day contest. Kent Weigel, Laura Wackershauser, Jason James, Ryan Sterry, Amy Kulick and Ted Halbach were the official judges. In addition, seven local farms contributed to the contest by allowing the use of their animals for the day. These farmers were: Phil Martin, Prairie du Chien; Steve and Matt Achenbach, Eastman; Danny Roberts, Eastman; Jody Riley, Gays Mills; Randy Moret, Boscobel; Tom Kearns, Gays Mills; and Ralph and Sheila Petersheim and their family, Viroqua.

“This contest is absolutely dependent on volunteers. It”s these kinds of volunteers and herd providers that make a contest like this possible,” stated Halbach. “Think about all the contest volunteers, coaches and practice herds that give freely of their time to provide these youth with a positive experience – these efforts help to encourage future involvement in the dairy industry.”

The Southwest Area Animal Science Day was sponsored by Cooperative Resources International and supported by the University of Wisconsin-Extension program.