Dairy Judging Team and 4-H Dairy Programming Updates

Ms. Bonnie Ayars, Dairy Judging Teams Coach and Extension Youth Specialist, The Ohio State University

The 2013 Judging Season is in the books!  It was a remarkable journey with outstanding 4-Hers and OSU students.  Many thanks to all our loyal supporters here at home who have invested their time, farm, and cattle, plus contributions to this educational program.  Perhaps, you will have already met some of the youth, but please make a mental note that they are the next generation of dairy leaders. The Ohio Holstein News covered our results with photos in their current issue.  However, here are the highlights!

2013 4-H Dairy Judging News Release

The Ohio 4-H team brought home several honors from the National 4-H Dairy Judging Contest at World Dairy Expo!  Although they did not earn the 1st place award for high team overall, they were the high team in placings beating out the 2nd place group by 25 points.  That was an accomplishment that should be recognized.  Long before reasons, the ability to see cattle is of the upmost importance.

Team members included Heath Geyer (Shelby County), Colton Harstine (Tuscarawas County), Cody Jodrey, and Cory Jodrey (Brown County). The team was high in Holstein, 3rd in Guernsey, and finished 7th overall out of 26 teams competing. Colton was 8th in placings, and Cory was 2nd in his placings. They finished 14th and 19th, respectively, over all. Heath was 9th in the Jersey division, and Cody was second in Holstein and Colton in 6th place.

Way to go boys...the only all male team at the contest!

At the Louisville contest, two contestants were able to participate as other team members were exhibiting at the show.  Hannah Dye (Tuscarawas County) and Ella Jackson (Logan County) were competitive individuals and recognized for their skills.  Hannah placed in the top 10 overall and also for her reasons.  Ella could also talk well and ranked in the top 10.  We have great prospects for 2014!

2013 Collegiate Dairy Judging News Release 

Pennsylvania All American

The Ohio State University Dairy Judging Team brought home a victory at the Pennsylvania All American contest held in September.  The team was composed of Robin Alden, Jared Smith, Lara Staples, and Jacquelyn Sherry.  As a team, they won by 14 points over the second place team, Michigan.  They also earned the second place rank in reasons.

Individually, Lara finished 7th overall and 3rd in reasons, Jared in 3rd overall, and Robin in 2nd with a 5th place in reasons.
 
In Ayrshire, Jacquelyn was 3rd and the team was 5th.  For the Brown Swiss breed, Robin was second as was the team.  With Guernsey, the team was second.  Holstein honors went to Robin as the high individual and again the team was in a 2nd place finish.  Rounding out the breeds, Jersey brought Lara a 3rd place, Jared in 4th, and the 2nd high team.

As the excitement mounted during the results, it was good to look around the room and see so many familiar and supportive faces from Ohio.  You could nearly hear the chant, “Go Bucks!”

Complete breakdowns on all teams and breeds are available at: http://www.allamerican.state.pa.us/files/2013CollegiateResults.pdf

World Dairy Expo

The Dairy Judging Team competed on September 30 in the National Collegiate Dairy Judging Contest at Madison, Wisconsin, during the World Dairy Expo. Team members included Robin Alden, Jared Smith, Lara Staples, and Hillary Hayman.

Results:

4th team overall
3rd high team in Ayrshire
2nd high team in Red and White
6th high team in Milking Shorthorn
6th high team in reasons
In overall individual reasons, Lara was 7th and Robin finished 10th.

For the top 25 overall and All American status, Lara was 13th and Robin was 11th. This was the 93rd contest and it was one of the closest on record.

Detailed results are available at: http://www.worlddairyexpo.com/pages/News-Release---2013---Virginia-Tech-Tops-2013-World-Dairy-Expo-Intercollegiate-Dairy-Cattle-Judging-Contest.php

North American

Four young ladies were present for this contest, including Lara Staples, Hillary Hayman, Emily Dudash, and Rachel Townsley.  Once again, these are judges who have also competed previously in the 4-H division.  There were 19 college teams and although they were not in total agreement with the officials as far as placings, they were recognized as the 5th high team in reasons.

4-H Dairy Programming

The Dairy 4-H Advisory Committee recently met at the Richland County Extension Office to schedule and plan programming for the 2014 calendar year.  In mid December, a mailing with the dates of all official statewide activities will be sent to over 500 dairy 4-Hers.  This list has expanded and grown due to the overwhelming response to Dairy Palooza, which now includes Quality Assurance Training.  New programming has been added and will be announced in this newsletter, on Facebook, and on the web page.  Hint…it is titled The Dairying Game.

Early in December, I will be posting the Dairy Achievement Record Form.  This is a means of recognizing outstanding dairy 4-Hers for their participation in organized events.  Adult leaders and volunteers are encouraged to complete the form for their county members.  More details will be available on Facebook and the web page. The due date will be early in January so that awards can be presented at dairy banquets.

For those of you who follow youth events and Spring Dairy Expo, we are pleased to announce that Ohio F