Picture this: You are in the ring or the audience at a dairy cattle show, anxiously waiting for the judge to select their champions. The judge announces they will select their grand champion, reserve champion and honorable mention in that order and begin the walk to select their winner before giving reasons. They are no doubt nervous, excited and do not take the responsibility lightly. The days, weeks and years leading up to this point were likely a direct result of dairy judging.
The benefits of judging are numerous, but most parents, coaches, industry professionals, dairy cattle enthusiasts and everyone in between would agree that public speaking, decision-making, time management, defending one’s decision, teamwork and making connections across the dairy industry are just a few of the skills gained.
Developing skills
“Public speaking causes students to be concise and make a point,” says Dr. Les Hansen, Morse Alumni Distinguished teaching professor and University of Minnesota dairy judging coach. “The other value of dairy judging is bonding and traveling together to practices and contests. If people are on a judging team together, they are typically close well into the future.”
Hansen cites judging as a unique opportunity that supplements academic programs. Top-notch students grow personally while developing professional skills for a future career. Encouraging a feel-good environment, students can learn the pride that dairy producers have in their excellent show cattle.
“Dairy judging is an opportunity to rally around and appreciate the conformation and different traits of dairy cattle,” Hansen says. “It is developing the ability to discuss traits and prioritize them regardless of how they are emphasized.”
Dr. Stan Henderson, who grew up in northeast Iowa on a dairy farm and taught at Cal Poly State University, has served as a longtime dairy judging coach. In the western U.S., students often do not get the same exposure to different breeds and different types of dairies as those in the Midwest. Most are large commercial Holstein or Jersey herds. That is where judging comes in.
“One of the biggest values for Cal Poly students is seeing dairying in a different part of the country,” Henderson says. “Most have never seen small dairies with a tiestall barn and how realistic these farms are.”
Henderson commends judging for equipping students with practical skills such as evaluating a class of animals and defending class placings, all the while communicating accurately in a convincing way.
Dale Olver, assistant teaching professor in dairy and animal science at Pennsylvania State University, has served as the dairy cattle judging coach for the university since 1989. On the collegiate level, Olver has witnessed firsthand the incredible influence judging has on preparing students for life after college.
“The biggest thing we see with our graduates who participate in judging is that they are very well rounded,” Olver says. “They can make decisions, and even though some might not stay in the dairy industry, they learn time management, how to communicate and how to manage priorities.”
Lessons learned
A longtime participant in judging, Bryce Windecker, who is a recent animal science graduate from Cornell University, has learned a few lessons along the way. Windecker was honored to be named the high individual at the 2021 National Intercollegiate Dairy Cattle Judging Contest, but this achievement did not come without bumps in the road.
“You have good and bad days, and you have to take the bad days and learn from them,” Windecker says. “We all make mistakes, but you have to be able to take constructive criticism.”
As Windecker begins his career with ever.ag, a commodity brokerage and risk management firm, he believes he is prepared for his next journey thanks in large part to judging.
“Talking and interacting with people, working with others, being a part of a team, having a boss or coach, working toward a common goal and getting a job done,” Windecker says. “These skills are all developed in dairy judging.”
Fueling a passion
Dr. Chad Dechow, associate professor of dairy cattle genetics at Pennsylvania State University and coach of the state 4-H dairy judging team, says judging helps to make the dairy industry fun and exciting.
“The most important thing is that dairy judging creates enthusiasm for working with dairy cows,” Dechow says. “It also helps us to appreciate good conformation, not just from a show standpoint but the importance of breeding good cows.”
Nicholas Hammer has always enjoyed engaging in conversations with others and talking about cows. For him, judging is both a lesson and a skill, and Hammer learned more about presenting himself and talking publicly through judging once he started giving oral reasons. Hammer made history at the 2021 National 4-H Dairy Cattle Judging contest as the first Florida 4-H youth to be named high individual. He credits this success to a lesson he learned early on.
“If you are looking at your notes and have a lot to say about the cows, do not second-guess yourself, since that can be the difference between a 45 and a 50 in placings,” Hammer says.
After he completes his studies at Kaskaskia College, Hammer wants to carry on the legacy his family started by serving as the fifth generation on his family’s farm. Through learning different opinions on dairy cattle, he feels prepared to take on this role.
“Judging translates into how I can milk better cows, what a good cow should look like and how I can manage the best cows,” Hammer says.
Practice makes perfect when preparing for judging contests, and Erin Curtis, animal science student at SUNY Cobleskill, knows if there was no pushing by her coaches, she would not have experienced success. As the high individual in the 2021 International Post-Secondary Dairy Cattle Judging Contest, Curtis saw her hard work pay off.
“With being a part of a team, practice does make perfect,” Curtis says. “When going every day into our coach’s office, whether it was for reasons or to think or new phrases to use during the contest, everything came full circle.”
Having grown up on her family’s farm, Curtis wants to continue having cows and being part of the dairy industry. After graduation, she would enjoy the chance to judge outside of a youth contest. To keep the next generation of students engaged in judging, Curtis recommends the addition of mentoring opportunities from current judges at major national shows.
“A big thing that is going to help push our generation is allowing those who are coming of age to be able to shadow a judge,” Curtis says. “This is something that will push youth to be able to judge on their own and see how a judge manages their time, what they look for and how it works to judge an actual show.
Investing in dairy judging
For someone who did not have the opportunity to participate in judging growing up, Bonnie Ayars, program specialist in dairy and teaching support and dairy judging coach at Ohio State University, has not let this deter her from becoming involved as a coach and mentor to countless youth. She uses an analogy of investing money when showcasing what sets judging apart from other co-curricular activities.
“When you go to the bank, you make a deposit in your checking account, and sometimes you invest things into a savings account,” Ayars says. “Dairy judging is not a deposit; it is an investment.”
All in all, judging offers transferable skills to win in the game of life. As long as there continue to be dairy cattle shows, there will be dairy judging offered as a way to get people enthused about the dairy industry.
“Everyone should want to win,” Ayars says. “But we have already won with dairy judging."
