Shane and Jennifer Sauer of Waterloo, Wis., were selected as the Wisconsin 2021 Outstanding Young Farmers during the 67th annual OYF awards weekend, held Jan. 22-23 in Neenah, Wis.

Shane and Jennifer operate Sauer Dairy LLC, where they care for 150 registered Holsteins and farm 650 acres. The couple grows corn, soybeans, alfalfa and wheat on their farm. Shane is the third generation on his family’s dairy. The farm has been selected to host the Watertown Agribusiness Club dairy breakfast in June.

Shane has been farming since he was 15 years old. He focuses on the cows and producing high-quality milk. When COVID-19 affected markets for dairy products, the Sauers bought 5,000 bags of cheese curds from their dairy cooperative and sold them throughout the area. Their family was able to tell the farm story to the public, sharing their passion for farming.

Speak Up for Ag winners

The Sauers were also the OYF Speak Up for Agriculture winners. The Sauers were sponsored by Horicon Bank, Rolling Hills Dairy Producers, Insight FS and Mid-State Equipment.

Joe and Ashley Dudkiewicz of Crivitz were the first runners-up in the 2021 OYF competition. They have a beef herd and cash crop enterprise with about 1,400 acres in northwest Wisconsin. They were sponsored by GreenStone Farm Credit Services, Country Visions Cooperative and Pioneer Seeds.

Other finalists:

Judges for the event were:

Sponsors for the OYF event include the following:

Diamond. Compeer Financial, Professional Dairy Producers and USAgNet

Platinum. Agri-View, Byron Seeds, Dairy Business Association, Equity Cooperative Livestock Sales Association, GreenStone Farm Credit, Insight FS Inc., Leedstone Inc., Rolling Hills Dairy Producers, and Ken and Ann Reckelberg

Gold. Lloyd and Daphne Holterman, Robert and Karyn Schauf, Wayside Dairy LLC-Dan and Barb Natzke, Country Visions Co-op, CP Feeds LLC, Dairy Department Inc., Frontier Ag and Turf, Homestead Meadows, Hoof and Paw Clinic, Horicon Bank, La Crosse Seed, Mid-State Equipment, Ottery Transportation, Premier 1 Supplies, Ron’s Cheese/Pagel’s Ponderosa, Sartori Cheese, and Wisconsin Farmers Union

Silver. ABS Global, AMPI, Eau Claire Energy Cooperative and Prairie Creek Seed

Bronze. Animart LLC, Fox Cities Convention and Visitors Bureau, Kwik Trip, and Lakeshore Farm Management

Next year’s Wisconsin OYF awards weekend will be held in January at the Best Western Premier Resort Hotel and Conference Center in Neenah.