FFA teams traveled to Indianapolis, Ind., this week to compete in the National FFA Career Development Event (CDE) for Dairy Cattle Evaluation and Management. On Wednesday, each participant took a written exam, judged six classes, and gave three sets of oral reasons. On Thursday, after reviewing a farm’s management records, the four-person teams presented their recommendations for improvement to three judges that assumed the role of the dairy farm owner. The top four teams and top 10 individuals were announced in random order on Thursday afternoon, with the final placings announced Friday morning during the fourth general session of the National FFA Convention.
Team rankings
The top four teams all had four individual gold medal winners. Kentucky FFA captured their 11th national title in the past 23 years. Kentucky was represented by Spencer County FFA, and all members placed in the top 10 overall individuals. Team members included Hunter King (second individual), Katherine Williams (fourth), John Humes (sixth), and Evan Waller (seventh).
Lake City FFA from Minnesota took home reserve honors with team members Ashley Mellgren, Blake Siewert, Emily Mellgren, and Lillian Schumacher. Siewert was fifth individually and Ashley Mellgren was ninth.
Central California’s Hilmar FFA was third. Team members were Xavier Silveira, Jacob Ahlem, Samuel Avila, and Daniel Diniz. Silveira was eighth as an individual.
Florida was fourth and represented by a team from Lafayette FFA. Team members were sisters JayLee and Johanna Heijkoop, Molly Hamlin, and Trey Lawson. JayLee Heijkoop was the high individual overall, while Johanna Heijkoop was third individually.
The top teams are invited to judge at the Royal Highlands Show in Scotland next summer. Rounding out the top 10 teams were Maquoketa Valley FFA (Iowa), School of Dreams Academy FFA (New Mexico), Prairie Central FFA (Illinois), Guthrie FFA (Oklahoma), Wilson Central FFA (Tennessee), and Colby FFA (Wisconsin).
Individual honors
JayLee Heijkoop is the second Florida FFA member to be high individual in this contest in the last eight years. She also earned the highest score on the written test and was the top in oral reasons. Heijkoop placed second at the National 4-H Dairy Judging Contest in Madison, Wis., earlier this month.
Kentucky FFA’s Hunter King was second and followed Heijkoop just as he did when he was third in the National 4-H Dairy Judging Contest this year. Johanna Heijkoop rounded out the top judging trio. Kaden Davis of Prairie Central FFA in Illinois placed 10th individually and was the only top-10 individual who was not on one of the top four teams.
Evan Waller of Kentucky won the Holstein breed, Kaden Davis of Illinois won the Brown Swiss breed, and Blake Siewert of Minnesota won the Jersey breed.
To view past FFA contest winners, click the link.
Dairy handlers contest
Olivia VanEvera from New York won the Dairy Cattle Handlers Activity. She was followed by Alaina Dinderman from Illinois in second and Carissa Pittman of Ohio in third. Participants were evaluated while they presented the cattle for the dairy cattle evaluation contestants.
The author is the online media manager and is responsible for the website, webinars, podcasts, and social media. A graduate of Modesto Junior College and Fresno State, she was raised on a California dairy and blogs on youth programs and consumer issues.
