The Central National FFA Dairy Judging Contest was held on Tuesday morning of World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wis. Four classes are judged and the high school students answer questions on one of the classes. This year it was the Brown Swiss 3-year-old class. Oral reasons are not part of this contest. The combined scores determines the winners.
Three young men from the Saint Peter, Minnesota FFA chapter won the contest, besting 126 full teams. Team members included Matthias Annexstad, Nicholas Seitzer and Jacob Pehrson. They topped their closest competition by 33 points.
The top teams that followed Minnesota's Saint Peter FFA were Wisconsin chapters Janesville-Craig FFA, Westby FFA, Seymour FFA, Fort Atkinson FFA, Rio FFA, Lakeside Lutheran FFA, Gillett FFA, and Sauk Prairie FFA. Marengo FFA in Illinois completed the top 10 teams.
Colin Uecker topped 390 other students to be named High Individual. His score was 12 points higher than the second-place finisher, Becky Breunig of Sauk Prairie FFA (Wis.). Hailey Raymond from New Glarus FFA (Wis.) placed third, five points behind Breunig. Sammy Streich of Fort Atkinson FFA was fourth, followed by Matthias Annexstad of Saint Peter FFA (Minn.) Other top individuals included:
6. Alexander Krueger, Janesville-Craig FFA (Wis.)
7. Brett Peth, Ripon FFA (Wis.)
8. Nicholas Seitzer, Saint Peter (Minn.)
9. Taylor Volkers, Marengo (Ill.)
10. Kiley Eck, Lake Mills FFA (Wis.)
The FFA contest was one of four judging contests held this week. The 4-H, post-secondary and collegiate contests were held on Monday.
While the judges were evaluating cattle, the FFA leadspeople were also under scrutiny by a team of judges for their showmanship ability. In the Central National FFA Dairy Cattle Showmanship contest, the top three individuals were Katy Wagoner, Watertown FFA; Ashley Magnuson, Neillsville FFA; Courtney Moser, Westby; Dylan McGuwan, Pecatonica FFA; and Kate Vickerman, Milton FFA.
The author is the online media manager and is responsible for the website, webinars and social media. A graduate of Modesto Junior College and Fresno State, she was raised on a California dairy and frequently blogs on youth programs and consumer issues.