When it comes to dairy shows, World Dairy Expo is as unique as they come. Essentially fully funded by the industry, the show also is governed by the greater dairy industry that seeded it with startup money some 47 years ago.

One of those early supporters was Robert Walton of ABS fame. The long-time president of the global breeding establishment also holds the distinction of being World Dairy Expo's longest serving director . . . 38 years to be exact, serving from 1971 to 2009.

Recently, we caught up with Bob to conduct an interview for our World Dairy Expo Supplement about his impact on the dairy industry. That article can be found on pages 7 and 62 of the supplement found in the September 10 issue.

As part of that project, we conducted a phone interview in which we included questions about the value of dairy cattle judging to his career and how it came to pass that ABS launched and has continued to support the ABS Coffee, Milk and Donut Run each morning in the cattle barns at the show.

A portion of that audio, along with a group of photos from his long and distinguished career, can be viewed here.