Allamakee County 4-H Dairy Judging Teams compete at the State 4-H Dairy Judging Contest at the Iowa State Fair

In dairy judging, youth evaluate classes of dairy cows and heifers and then defend their placings through oral reasoning. Youth learn the dairy cow unified scorecard and major breakdowns, anatomy of the dairy cow, along with dairy judging terminology.

Allamakee County had 11 4-H’ers represented at the State 4-H Dairy Judging contest held at the Iowa State Fair in August of this year. They made up multiple teams, including one Junior Division team, one Senior Division team and one combined county team in the Junior Division.

The following Allamakee County youth participated; Senior members included Dalton Ellickson, son of Lee and Chris Ellickson of Waukon; Landon Guese, son of Brandon and Niki Guese of Postville; Ethan Palmer, son of John and Meghan Palmer of Waukon; and Emma Palmer, daughter of Eric and Stephanie Palmer of Waukon. Junior participants were Bradley and Olivia Enyart, children of Brian and Monica Enyart of Postville; John Melcher, son of Tom and Jeni Melcher of Castalia; Norah Palmer, daughter of John and Meghan Palmer of Waukon; Keagan and Sophia Palmer, children of Eric and Stephanie Palmer of Waukon; and Braelyn Zuercher, daughter of Matt and Tara Zuercher of Decorah. The Dairy Judging teams were coached by Aaron Palmer and Lars Sivesind of Waukon.

The Junior division of the contest involved 25 individuals and seven teams representing the counties of Allamakee, Delaware, Dubuque, Fayette and Winneshiek. The Allamakee Junior Dairy Judging Team placed fourth as a Team Overall and fourth in Team Reasons.

The Junior team placed first in the Guernsey and Holstein divisions, third in Jersey, fourth in Brown Swiss, and fifth in both Ayrshire and Milking Shorthorn. Team individual highlights included: Olivia Enyart placed seventh overall, sixth in Reasons, third in Guernsey, fifth in Holstein and sixth in Jersey. Keagan Palmer placed first in the Holstein Division. Norah Palmer placed sixth Overall, fifth in Reasons, first in both Brown Swiss and Milking Shorthorn, fifth in Jersey, and eighth in Guernsey. Sophia Palmer placed third in Ayrshire, and tenth in both Guernsey and Holstein.

Bradley Enyart, Braelyn Zuercher and John Melcher participated in the combined Junior Team of youth from Allamakee and Fayette Counties. That team placed sixth Overall and fifth in Team Reasons. Team individual highlights included Braelyn Zuercher placing eighth in Holsteins and 10th in Milking Shorthorns, and John Melcher placed ninth in Milking Shorthorns.

The Senior Division had seven teams and 22 individuals representing Allamakee, Delaware, Fayette and Winneshiek counties. Allamakee’s Senior Dairy Judging Team placed fourth as a Team Overall and in Reasons, second in Holstein and Jersey classes, third in Guernsey, and fifth in the Ayrshire, Brown Swiss and Milking Shorthorn classes.
Individual placewinnings included the following: Dalton Ellickson placed ninth in Holstein. Landon Guese placed fourth in Brown Swiss. Ethan Palmer placed ninth Overall, seventh in Brown Swiss, fourth in Holstein and eighth in Jersey. Emma Palmer placed third in Reasons, fifth Overall, first in Guernsey, second in Jersey, and third in both Holstein and Milking Shorthorn.

The Dairy Judging teams appreciate the host farms that invited them in to practice judging on their dairy cattle. Appreciation is also shared with the parents and drivers for all the support and encouragement of the teams along the way.