MENOMONIE — A Dunn County 4-H dairy judging team member took home two individual first place honors this month at the international dairy judging contest in Glasgow, Scotland.
Brooke Brantner, a Menomonie High School graduate planning to attend UW-River Falls in the fall to study animal science, took first place overall in giving an oral explanation on why she placed the cows she judged. Brantner had a perfect score on her reasoning for placing the Jersey cows. She also tied for first place in class placing scores.
The four-member Dunn County 4-H judging team won the Lely National 4-H Dairy Cattle Judging Contest at the World Dairy Expo in Madison, earning them a trip to the Scotland Highland Agricultural Show. The international show ran June 22 to July 5.
Team members included Brantner, brothers Ben and Luke Powers and Krista Styer. The team is coached by Jim Powers, Ben and Luke’s father, and Scott Nelson.
At the international contest the Dunn County team was broken into two teams: the Powers brothers’ team placed third overall while Styer and Brantner were sixth.
“The kids represented Menomonie, Dunn County, the state of Wisconsin and the U.S. very well,” Jim Powers said.
As part of the trip the team traveled to Luxembourg and stayed with host families. There they competed in judging at the International Heifer Show. Ben Powers won the showmanship contest at the international show.
Team members also visited Belgium, Germany and London.
For dairy judging, team members have to know the characteristics of the breeds and justify their choices for top animals.
Judging in Scotland was different from the U.S., Brantner said.
Contestants were given five minutes to judge a class, about 10 minutes less than in the U.S. They are given one minute to write down their justification before presenting it.
In Scotland they judged four classes of cows: Jersey, two Holstein classes and Ayrshire.
Brantner, 19, started dairy judging when she was 12 years old.
She credited the Dunn County team for working together to improve their judging. The team has been together six years.
“I feel really fortunate to have had this opportunity,” she said. “At the end of the day it was about the people I met dairy judging.”
By: Pamela Powers
Source: Eau Claire Leader Telegram