Reserve supreme champion showmanship winner from Livingston County represents state's dairy industry at 7th annual Michigan Livestock Expo Sale-abration'
Lucas Moser, Ingham County, was selected as the supreme champion showmanship winner during the Michigan 4-H Youth Dairy Days dairy cattle show held July 21 at Michigan State University (MSU) in East Lansing. Moser was chosen as the winner from a field of 12 individual showmanship class winners. The dairy cattle show is one of several youth-centered activities held annually during the week-long Michigan Dairy Expo, the state's largest dairy event. This year's expo, the 18th annual, was held July 20-24. More than 125 youth competed in this year's show.
The supreme champion showmanship winner, in addition to the owners of the supreme champion dairy cow and the supreme champion dairy heifer, represent the Michigan dairy industry at the annual Michigan Livestock Expo Sale-abration' held the evening of the show. Because a youth may only represent one winning category, Moser who also owned the supreme champion dairy cow elected to participate as the winner of the supreme champion dairy cow award. The reserve supreme champion showmanship winner, Kristen Burkhardt, of Livingston County, took part in this year's 7th annual Sale-abration' festivities and auction.
Burkhardt's lot, which was represented by a dairy products basket, sold for $15,000 to a syndicate of buyers: ABS Global, Inc., Calder Dairy, Caledonia Farmers Elevator, Class Construction, Dairy Farmers of America, employees of the Farm Bureau Family of Companies, Golden Elm Dairy and the Eric Frahm family, the Kroger Co. of Michigan, Logan Brothers Printing, the Michigan Milk Producers Association, the Michigan Soybean Promotion Committee, MOO-ville Creamery, NorthStar Cooperative, Inc., Prince Agri Products, VanBeek Nutrition, VitaPlus, and Zeeland Farm Services, Inc. She received $1,000 and the remaining amount is deposited into a statewide dairy youth fund held by the Michigan Youth Livestock Scholarship Fund that supports dairy youth programs through educational grants and scholarships.
Showmanship classes were divided according to the total number of participants and their respective ages. The focus was on having a similar number of participants in each class with no more than one year's age difference between the youngest and oldest contestant.
Winners of the individual classes were:
Division 1: Kelsie Atherton, Swartz Creek (Shiawassee County)
Division 2: Caitlyn Tietema, Zeeland (Ottawa County)
Division 3: Hayley Wineland, Coldwater (Branch County)
Division 4: Anna Moser, Dansville (Ingham County)
Division 5: Andrew Atherton, Swartz Creek (Shiawassee County)
Division 6: Ian Black, Eagle (Clinton County)
Division 7: Brittany Dreyer, Zeeland (Ottawa County)
Division 8: Kristen Burkhardt, Fowlerville (Livingston County)
Division 9: Thomas Hull, North Adams (Hillsdale County)
Division 10: Eric Moser, Dansville (Ingham County)
Division 11: Heather Berens, Wayland (Allegan County)
Division 12: Lucas Moser, Dansville (Ingham County)
As the youth-centered portion of the Michigan Dairy Expo, the largest annual dairy event in the state, Michigan 4-H Youth Dairy Days offers young people interested in the dairy industry opportunities to compete for premiums, ribbons and scholarships in various educational activities, including dairy quiz bowls, dairy management contests, dairy cattle judging competitions and the Dairy Days youth show. This year, nearly 150 youth from around the state participated in one or more of the educational competitions, and winners may go on to represent Michigan in national competitions.
Awards and other recognition during Michigan 4-H and Youth Dairy Days, along with other dairy youth and judging program activities conducted throughout the year, are made possible through the generous support of numerous businesses, organizations and individuals. These include: ABS Global, AIS Equipment, the Branch County Dairy Organization, the CHS Foundation, the Clinton County 4-H Dairy Council, Dairy Farmers of America, the District 1 and District VI Holstein associations, Drs. Joe and Denise Domecq, GreenStone Farm Credit Services, Hillsdale County Dairy Leaders, Ira Krupp, Lely, the Michigan Dairy Memorial Foundation, the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Michigan Farm Bureau, the Michigan Holstein Association, the Michigan Jersey Cattle Club, the Michigan Milk Producers Association, the Michigan Purebred Dairy Cattle Association, the MSU College of Veterinary Medicine Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences, the MSU Dairy Club, the MSU Dairy Cattle Judging Team, the MSU Department of Animal Science, MOO-ville Creamery, NorthStar Cooperative, the Osceola County 4-H Dairy Boosters, the Ottawa County 4-H Dairy Committee, Rodney Pennock, Purina Animal Nutrition, the Shiawassee County 4-H Dairy Association, the United Dairy Industry of Michigan, and the Vitality Dairy crew.
For more information about the Michigan 4-H dairy youth program, contact Elischer at 517-432-4306. For more information about the Michigan Dairy Expo, contact Dr. Joe Domecq at 517-353-7855.
The 2016 Michigan Dairy Expo is scheduled for July 18-22 at MSU.
8.11.2015