Progressive Dairyman caught up with five industry professionals who step away from their main livelihoods for one week of the year to pursue passions close to their hearts. They make their livings doing such things as balancing rations, planning manure pits or selling semen, yet when World Dairy Expo rolls around, they take on a different set of tasks.
Perhaps you will find them holding the halter of a class-winning cow, pitching the pack in the cattle barn or running around ringside to assist with shows, sales and judging contests.
Find out what keeps these individuals busy during World Dairy Expo week and why they wouldn’t miss it for the world.
Bert Stewart
Location: Elora, Ontario, Canada
Day job:
Former show herd consultant for Agro Acres and Oak Ridges and involved with preparing and showing cattle for many breeders in Canada, the U.S. and Brazil.
World Dairy Expo job or activity:
I have been coaching and going to World Dairy Expo with the Ontario 4-H dairy judging team for 25 years. I was instrumental in getting a 4-H dairy judging competition started in Ontario, and we decided that the top four contestants would win a trip to World Dairy Expo.
Though it was a national competition and it was impossible for us to compete for awards, they allowed us to compete for experience, and we were pleased. The coach of the winning Ontario team was also to go to the expo. I was lucky to have the first three winning teams. I have also had the honor of judging all the breeds that were in the expo over the years.
How long have you been doing it?
I was unable to attend the first two years of World Dairy Expo, and I have not missed a year since.
What is the best part of your expo job or activity?
Coaching and working with the 4-H’ers. I have made many great friends over the years. This involvement, I am sure, has helped me win the Klussendorf Award as well as being inducted into the Canadian Agricultural Hall of Fame at the Royal Winter Fair.
Why do you choose to be involved in it?
There are three reasons. First, we needed this type of 4-H dairy judging competition in Ontario; second, because when I was a 4-H member many years ago, I was blessed with good coaches and I wanted to give back to the program; and third, World Dairy Expo has been a big part of my life, and I have also attended 65 years at the Royal Winter Fair without a miss.
Jennifer Keuning
Location: Green Bay, Wisconsin
Day job:
Environmental scientist at Conestoga-Rovers & Associates (CRA)
World Dairy Expo job or activity:
Superintendent of WDE International Futurity; assistant superintendent for Holstein breed
How did you become involved with this job or activity at the expo?
I was asked by longtime WDE supporter Dr. Dave Selner to volunteer at the expo for the first time in 1997. I have been involved as a volunteer ever since. I began my volunteer career at WDE assisting with dairy cattle check-in. When the futurity show began, I was asked to take additional responsibility as a superintendent.
As superintendent of the World Dairy Expo International Futurity, I make sure each breed’s futurity runs smoothly as part of the regular breed show. In addition, I serve as assistant superintendent for the Holstein breed, working with Holstein Superintendent Ken Elliott, and assist with activities including stalling assignments, animal check-in and recording show placings during the breed show.
How long have you been doing it?
This year is my 18th at World Dairy Expo.
What is the best part of your expo job or activity?
WDE is my favorite time of the year. The week flies by so fast, but I love the opportunity to interact with dairy producers and business people from across North America and see some of the best dairy cattle and industry innovations the world has to offer.
Why do you choose to be involved in it?
There is no other event that compares to World Dairy Expo. It’s easy to give back to an industry that has taught me so much through the years. As a showcase for elite dairy cattle, cutting-edge research and modern technologies, the expo is truly the place to be in early October each year.
Jackie Florent
Location: Mount Horeb, Wisconsin
Day job:
Dairy territory manager at Merck Animal Health
World Dairy Expo job or activity:
I help good friends with a string of show cattle. They typically take a group of about 30 head to the show. My responsibilities with this begin on Friday afternoon before WDE when we set up and bed down. Cattle typically arrive Saturday morning.
We get going with chores around 4 a.m. daily and work hard all day keeping cattle comfortable and presented their best. I usually help milk, wash and feed hay throughout the day. Once WDE opens to the public on Tuesday, I help with morning and evening chores when it works with my Merck booth schedule.
How did you become involved with this job/activity at the expo?
I have been attending WDE since I was a kid. My parents had a dairy about an hour-and-a-half south of WDE, and we would always make it an annual family event to attend. As I grew older and began milking for some local friends, I became involved with helping them prepare for shows at the farm and eventually would help them with their cattle at WDE.
When I finished college, I worked for a couple of show farms full-time, which led to helping to prepare show strings for WDE. These opportunities provided me with the skill set to learn what it takes to get cattle to WDE and keep them looking their best once they are there. They also allowed me to make great friends and contacts that I help with their cattle at WDE, as well as numerous other shows and events throughout the year.
How long have you been doing it?
I started helping with show cattle at the expo around age 16. Five years ago, the friends I help regularly went from tying a few animals in with a large string to taking out their own string. I have helped them every year since.
What is the best part of your expo job or activity?
I love working hands-on with dairy cattle. With an industry job, I don’t get to do that all the time. It is extremely rewarding to be able to help good friends with beautiful cattle they have worked hard to breed and develop all year long for this event. I also love being able to catch up with friends and make new ones from all over the world that share this same passion.
Why do you choose to be involved in it?
I have a passion for working with dairy cattle and this great industry.
Roger Turner
Location: Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, since 2012; formerly from Guelph, Ontario, Canada
Day job:
Global sales and genetic manager for Jetstream Genetics
World Dairy Expo job or activity:
This year I will judge, show and read pedigrees throughout the week of WDE. In the past, I have judged the International Red and White Show in 2003 and the International Junior Holstein Show in 2005. This year, I will be the associate judge for the International Junior Holstein Show.
Every year, I show many cattle for several breeds throughout the week for friends, clients and colleagues. I have had the honor of presenting many first-place animals, junior champions, intermediate champions and the supreme champion in 1998, Acme Star Lily.
I also read the pedigrees and announcement at the World Classic Holstein Sale on Friday evening, in addition to volunteering with the National Intercollegiate Dairy Cattle Judging Contest, where I serve on a panel of official judges and score individuals for their reasons.
How did you become involved with this job or activity at the expo?
It all goes back to when I started attending WDE as a cattle fitter, bringing a group of cattle from Ontario, Canada, headed up by the Ontario Holstein Branch, James A. Walker from Walkerbrae Holsteins and Lowell D. Lindsay from Semex.
These two gentlemen would scour the country every year to get the best cattle together to bring them to WDE. They hired a group of fitters, cowmen and showmen to travel, care for and exhibit them. I was honored to be with this elite group for a number of years. Later on, I traveled with and fitted cows for Hanover Hill Holsteins, Walkerbrae Holsteins, Browndale Holsteins, Fraeland Holsteins and Cher-Own Holsteins.
How long have you been doing it?
I began coming to World Dairy Expo in 1983 and have been leading cows since 1990. I served as an official judge for the first time in 2003, and last year, I began volunteering with the collegiate competition.
What is the best part of your expo job or activity?
I love the people. I just love the whole week – it is filled with passionate dairy people from all over the world. I only see many of them once a year at World Dairy Expo.
Why do you choose to be involved in it?
I really like helping with the youth programs. I find these activities to be a way to give back to the industry for the hours my 4-H leaders, parents and others helped me out for many years. Also, the opportunity to lead cows is a thrill and a rush.
It is exciting for me to help great people do and achieve their best. WDE is the center stage, and it only comes once a year. Reading pedigrees for World Classic Sale with the legend Tom Morris in front of the largest sale crowd gathered every year is also a pure pleasure. With the best cows, the best venue and the best people in the industry, it just does not get any better than that.
Laurie Winkelman
Location: Appleton, Wisconsin
Day job:
Dairy nutritionist, technical services, for Vita Plus
World Dairy Expo job or activity:
Intercollegiate Dairy Judging Contest assistant superintendent; Dairy cattle show exhibitor
How did you become involved with this job or activity at the expo?
For the judging contest, I was asked to help with selection by the superintendent, Corey Geiger. As a past participant in the 4-H and collegiate judging contests at the expo, I was more than happy to volunteer my time to help the contest run smoothly.
How long have you been doing it?
My family has shown at World Dairy Expo for a number of years, consistently from year to year since 1999. I have assisted with cattle selection and preparation for the collegiate dairy judging contest for the past three years.
What is the best part of your expo job or activity?
For the judging contest, I enjoy working behind the scenes of the contest to make it the best it can be. For the “right” students to win the contest, the classes they view and judge must be placeable. The selection committee takes pride in making the classes the best we can with the top-notch animals available on the grounds.
For me, if the contest is “high-scoring” and competitive, it means we did our job. Also, we help with getting the animals to and from the ring for the contest on Monday, and I enjoy the interaction with the exhibitors. Working with the contest has allowed me to meet more dairy cattle exhibitors, and that is always a great opportunity.
As a dairy cattle show exhibitor, World Dairy Expo is the big show for my family’s farm. We never expect to win, but we just try to do our best with what we have. I enjoy the thrill of the competition, and I also enjoy the process of getting our animals to look the best we can within our means. I do the fitting for our string of animals, so I really enjoy when animals we prepared get medallions.
Why do you choose to be involved in it? Being in the barns with the cows during the week of World Dairy Expo is great for seeing customers of my “real” job. I enjoy the reunion-of-sorts that World Dairy Expo is. PD
Peggy Coffeen
Editor
Progressive Dairyman
