The University of Wisconsin dairy cattle judging team finished second in the 16th Annual Accelerated Genetics Intercollegiate Dairy Cattle Judging Contest at the Vernon County Fairgrounds in Viroqua Sunday.
The team finished first in judging and reasons for the Milking Shorthorns class of cattle, and UW sophomore Carissa Levash won the individual judging and reasons for the entire competition.
“We have a strong team because of our backgrounds in the subject,” Levash said. “All four of our team members were born and raised on a farm, and some of us have been judging cows since we were nine years old.”
According to UW sophomore team member Laura Elliott, the comp-etition is for both intercollegiate and younger students who look at cows from 10 different classes and rank them based on how similar they are to the true type.
There are four cows in each class varying in terms of breed and age. Of the 10 classes, each team member must create five sets of reasons, or prepared speeches, that explain why the placing was right and why classification is justified.
Each team member has 15 minutes to judge each class of cattle, but cannot confer with teammates about the decision. After the judging and reasons presentation are complete, scores are given.
Every class is worth 50 points for placement, and all members can gain a maximum of 250 points for their memorized reasons speeches. Each team member can therefore gain 750 total points.
Ohio State University won the contest by two points.
This was that first judging competition for the whole team and only contest of the year for the sophomore team.
“[These contests’] purpose is to provide real-world experience in evaluating dairy cattle,” UW sophomore Danielle Brown said in an e-mail to The Badger Herald.
The team simulated the contest by going to dairy farms around Wisconsin to judge various cattle and create reasons for their judgment. Also, all team members are required take Dairy Evaluation 205, which is taught by UW outreach specialist and judging team coach Ted Halbach and teaches skills necessary for cattle judging.
The whole team said they were proud of their performance on Sunday.
“Second-place finish is a steppingstone for the sophomore team to understand the collegiate contest,” Elliot said. “These competitions are a good way to get our foot in the door. If you win, there is a lot of recognition and it gives UW-Madison a good name.”
This contest is relevant to Wisconsin as a state since many of the judging team’s members go on to careers in the dairy industry after graduating, Brown said.
In Wisconsin’s dairy industry, she added, the skills these members have learned in dairy judging will be extremely useful as it gives them the upper hand in applying for certain jobs.
“As far as our success, not to brag, but UW has always had very successful, competitive judging teams,” Brown said. “We have won numerous national titles and regional contests, and we consistently place towards the top of contests.”
