Three college students from Michigan State University recently took home the big awards at the Accelerated Genetics Dairy Cattle Judging Contest, which was hosted by CentralStar Cooperative during the Vernon County Fair in Viroqua, Wis.

Madeline Meyer, Cameron Cook and Allison Schafer walked away with first, second and third, respectively, in individual reasons and made up the first-place reasons team. Schafer and Cook won first and second in overall individuals, and the three ladies, together, won overall team. The Michigan State team is coached by Sarah Black and Joe Domecq.

Breed-category winners were announced for Guernsey, Holstein, Jersey and milking shorthorn. Cook won Guernsey high individual, and Emily Annexstad, University of Minnesota, won Holstein high individual. Cook also stood on top for the Jersey breed, and Schafer achieved high individual for milking shorthorn.

OVERALL WINNER: Allison Schafer of Westphalia, Mich., won high individual overall Sept. 15 at the Accelerated Genetics Dairy Cattle Judging Contest hosted by CentralStar.

Michigan State won high team for the Guernsey and milking shorthorn breeds. The University of Minnesota-St. Paul “team maroon” took home this title for Holsteins, and Iowa State “team red” won with the Jersey breed.

Ten colleges and technical schools from throughout the U.S. were represented at the contest, with some bringing multiple teams.

Vernon County dairy youth led cattle for the contest and were judged on their showmanship ability. First place in the junior division went to Grace Fremstad, followed by Cooper Rahr and Kate Quackenbush. Emilie Brose won the senior division. Ty Harbaugh and Erin Torgerson were second and third, respectively. The Dave Larson Memorial Showmanship winner was Karly Anderson.

Event sponsors included CentralStar Cooperative; the Accelerated Genetics brand from Select Sires Inc.; American Guernsey Association; American Jersey Cattle Association; American Milking Shorthorn Society; Boehringer-Ingelheim; Chart Industries Inc.; Dairy Records Management Systems; Form-A-Feed Inc.; Holstein USA; James W. Crowley Fund; My Brand Promo with Julie Steffeny; Nasco; Star Blends; Trans Ova Genetics; UdderTech; and the Vernon County Agricultural Society.

The planning committee was comprised of a variety of employees from CentralStar Cooperative and Select Sires Inc.: Jerome Meyer, Jim Galstad, Dori Lichty, Angie Nelson, Amanda Solverson, Peggy Thran, Deb Giese, Carla Stetzer, Rick Williams, Bruce Von Ruden, Chelsea Daines and Jill Strangstalien.

For information, visit CentralStar Cooperative Inc. at mycentralstar.com.

Source: CentralStar Cooperative, which is solely responsible for the information provided and is wholly owned by the source. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset.