Alicia wins back-to-back titles

The nation's largest Jersey show kicked off at 8 a.m., Monday morning in Louisville, Ky. For many years, the All American Jersey Show has featured a unique format that sees the cows placed before the calves and heifers. Judge Brian Sayles of Paris, Ontario, Canada, and his consultant Hank Van Exel, Lodi, Calif., selected Ratliff Price Alicia as Grand Champion. Bred and owned by Ron and Christy Ratliff of Garnett, Kan., Alicia is a back-to-back Grand Champion of the All American Jersey Show. Alicia, the first place 4-year-old, also captured Reserve Grand Champion honors at the 2009 World Dairy Expo. Shown above are judge Sayles (left) and consultant Van Exel as they look at what went on to become the Grand and Reserve Grand Champion cows

Reserve Grand Champion honors went to Frederick 2783 Adventure owned by Eaton and Walton Lackey of Carlisle, Pa. She placed second in the very deep 4-year-old class. In all, there were 222 cows shown on Monday. Shown below are Alicia (right) and Adventure (left).



Taking home Intermediate Champion honors was Belfontaine Remake Oshgosh shown by Ben Sauder of Tremont, Ill., with Reserve Intermediate Champion going to Gadget Jade of Edgebrooke exhibited by Mike Dilly, Montour, Iowa.

On Sunday evening, the 57th All American Jersey Sale averaged $4,712.50 on 44 lots. The high seller was Lot 2, Choice of "Renegade" daughter of BW Avery Katie 121-ET. She sold for $15,500 and was consigned by Brentwood Farms, Orland, Calif. The first choice was purchased by Clauss Dairy Farms and Yosemite Jersey Dairy, Hilmar, Calif. The second high seller was Lot 3C, Gabys Dale Avalon-ET. She brought $15,000 and was consigned by Henry Gaby, Greeneville, Tenn. She was purchased by David Allen, Reedsburg, Wis.

Minnesota, Virginia Tech, and Cobleskill win at Louisville

Minnesota 4-H'ers swept the Youth Contest with individuals placing first, second, fourth, and tenth place at the 36th North American International Livestock Exposition. The actual contest was held Sunday with the results being announced Monday morning. With four in the top ten, the Minnesota 4-H topped second place New York by 29 points. Shown in the photo are coach Molly Neil; Maria Pieper, second place individual; Jennifer Vanderwal, fourth individual; Jessie Bester, tenth individual; Caitlin Durow, high individual; and coach Krista Sheehan. In all, there were 22 teams in the Youth Contest. Third place team, Michigan 4-H, won reasons while Abbey Wethal from Wisconsin 4-H was high in reasons.

In the Collegiate division, Virginia Tech kept its winning streak from World Dairy Expo alive by winning the college contest which featured teams from 16 schools. Pacing the Virginia Tech team was the duo of Caitlin Patrick and Dana Gochenour. Patrick had a score of 718 or a 47.9 average for ten classes and five sets of reasons, while Gochenour was just five points behind. Second place University of Wisconsin-Madison won reasons with team member Chelsea Holschbach winning, talking her way to top reasons honors with a 46.6-point average.

Taking home the Post-Secondary Championship was New York State University at Cobleskill with a score of 2044. That team featured the eighth (Ben Bemis), ninth (Ariel Garland), and tenth (Elizabeth Trombly) place individuals. In second was the Ohio State ATI team which won World Dairy Expo. Taking home high individual honors was George Costa, Jr., who averaged 47.1 for his Modesto College team. He also won reasons with a 46.6 point average. The Modesto Team won reasons.

New York wins ninth National 4-H Quiz Bowl title

Teams from 17 states came to Louisville, Ky., to participate in the 30th Annual National 4-H Dairy Quiz Bowl Competition. During the past 30 years, only two states attended every contest . . . New York and Maryland. And it just so happened that these teams sorted themselves to the top with New York taking home their ninth Championship and Maryland taking second place. Finishing third was Iowa, with Virginia, Vermont, and Pennsylvania all placing Honorable Mention.

Shown in the photo is the Championship team from New York. In the front row: Matt Young, coach; Deborah Grusenmeyer, coach; Grace Wivell. Back row: Meghan Vaill, Stephanie Supa, Sean Galley.