The countdown to World Dairy Expo has begun and we are getting excited about it. Just a few more days before over 65,000 dairy industry professionals from all over the world descend on the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Wisconsin for “Bright Lights, Big Show.”

A main fixture of World Dairy Expo since its inception in 1967 is Hoard’s Dairyman magazine. According to Gary Vorpahl, Hoard’s director of marketing, they were one of the first companies contacted about putting the show together in Madison.

“One of our founders, Bill Hoard himself, put up a share of money to make sure that it could happen in the Madison area,” said Vorpahl. “The show has evolved from originally almost a consumer show to the premier world show.”

Hoard’s Dairyman involvement in this year’s expo starts even before the show does. “On Sunday, the Hoard’s Dairyman farm will be hosting dairy judging teams from across the entire United States,” Vorpahl says. “Monday, we will then be hosting 225 young people who are going to be in Madison to attend Expo and visit us for the National 4H Dairy Conference.”

Once the show gets underway on Tuesday, Hoard’s will be hosting the commercial exhibitor party in the exhibit hall. Wednesday, Hoard’s managing editor Steve Larson will be honored as “2007 Industry Person of the Year” at the Dinner With the Stars. And throughout the week, Hoard’s editorial staff will be involved in many different capacities with the show, including judging and presenting awards.

“We’d like to invite everyone attending World Dairy Expo to stop by our booth in the exhibition hall, booth 4323, and also in the coliseum on the ground floor, booths 72 and 73,” said Vorpahl. “We’d just love to talk dairy with you. As we say around here, we’re all dairy all the time.”

Listen to Cindy’s complete audio interview with Gary here:
[audio:http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3?http://zimmcomm.biz/wdd/milking-parlor-01.mp3]

We are proud to have this distinguished dairy publication as one of World Dairy Diary’s sponsors for coverage of World Dairy Expo and they will be helping us bring you posts with photos, audio and even video on this site. So, even if you can’t attend this year, highlights from the “Bright Lights, Big Show” will be right here. Stay tuned!