Dane County keeps World Dairy Expo

by Danielle Felgenhauer

Monday, March 31, 2008 02:04

An agreement signed between Madison and World Dairy Expo officials last Friday will bring the international agriculture trade show to Wisconsin for the next three years.

The World Dairy Expo began in Madison 42 years ago, and it has worked to boost the local economy and attract people from all over the world to Dane County.

The agreement to keep the World Dairy Expo in Dane County was signed by Mark Clarke, general manager of World Dairy Expo, and County Executive Kathleen Falk, said Lisa Behnke, marketing manager for the World Dairy Expo.

According to Behnke, World Dairy Expo is a trade show strictly geared toward dairy producers and showcases dairy cattle and technology used by dairy producers to milk cows.

About 2,500 of the world’s premier cows and more than 67,000 visitors from 90 countries attended the 2007 World Dairy Expo, according to a statement from Falk’s office. The show has an estimated economic impact of $18.7 million in Dane County.

“It continues to get bigger and better,” said Josh Wescott, spokesperson for Falk. “We are working now on helping the event grow.”

Wescott said the World Dairy Expo could be “the second biggest attraction in the state,” and this year’s event will run Sept. 30 through Oct. 4.

According to the statement, Canadian cattle will return to the Expo this year for the first time in five years. More than 250 companies are on the waiting list to exhibit at the Expo, the world’s largest dairy trade show.

Wescott said Dane County is the “perfect place” for the Expo because it contains more than 50,000 dairy cows and produces 50 billion pounds of milk each year. The county has “a very logical agricultural connection,” he added, and will continue to be the international meeting place for the dairy industry.

Behnke said the Expo is also an opportunity for University of Wisconsin students, as “the World Dairy Expo employs nearly 100 students from the Badger Dairy Club.” These students help with anything from building show rings to collecting milk, she added.

“The World Dairy Expo allows us to become the center of the dairy world for several days,” Wescott said.

 

— Cara Harshman contributed to this report.