The Blog

Each year World Dairy Expo honors four top leaders whose work is an example of the best in the industry. “These leaders aren’t in it for recognition, they are top in the field because they desire to be the best,” said WDE General Manager Tom McKittrick. “They are well known and respected in the industry. It is only fitting that the world’s most respected dairy show honor the individuals that keep our business growing.”

Honored this year are:
Marvin L. Nunes, Windsor, California, Dairyman of the Year
Donna L. Sharp, Bath, South Dakota, Dairy Woman of the Year
Maurice Mix, Brattleboro, Vermont, Industry Person of the Year
Shinichiro Nosawa, Tokyo, Japan, International Person of the Year

The winners will be celebrated at a gala awards banquet during the 2005 World Dairy Expo, October 4 – 8 at the Alliant Energy Center, Madison, Wisconsin.

You can read a full biography on each honoree by visiting here.

Have you ever met one of the official judges of the World Dairy Expo? Well at least you can find out who they are online. The following slate of judges has been selected by the dairy cattle exhibitors and/or their respective breed associations and has been approved by Expo’s Board of Directors. These gentlemen will crown the champions at World Dairy Expo 2005.

Ayrshire, Lynn Lee, Smyrna, Tennesee

Brown Swiss, Steve White, New Castle, Indiana
Associate Judge – Dean Dohle, Halfway, Missouri

Guernsey, David Trotter, Enon Valley, Pennsylvania

Holstein, Perry Phend, Osseo, Wisconsin
Associate Judge – Gary Culbertson, Richfield Springs, New York

Junior Holstein, Roger Turner, Guelph, Ontario

Jersey, Norm Nabholz, West Union, Iowa
Associate Judge – Jeff Sayles, Paris, Ontario

Milking Shorthorn, Doug Savage, Merrickville, Ontario

Red & White, Brian Behnke, Brooklyn, Wisconsin

We officially kicked off the public information campaign to create awareness of World Dairy Diary with a news release that was distributed internationally. If you’d like to have a copy of the release please feel free to download the Word document here: World Dairy Diary Release

You have our permission to use the release to help us get the word out about the official weblog of the World Dairy Expo!

Thank you.

The current Alice in Dairyland is Gena Cooper. Alice started back in 1948 and is a program of the Wisconsin Dept. of Agriculture. The first Alice was Margaret McGuire.

This year Gena/Alice is a travelling ambassador for Wisconsin agriculture. I got to interview her recently at a trade show.

You can listen to my interview with Gena or Alice or whatever her name is here (1.2MB MP3)

Maybe you’ve heard it but just in case, the Cow Parade is coming to Wisconsin and World Dairy Expo! This is being made possible by the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, which has announced the first Wisconsin Cows – “Say Cheese, Wisconsin” by Bruce Bodden and “Where the Cows Are” by Steven Kozar. They will have photos soon.

I saw this story on Wisconsin Radio Network. You can use this link to hear their report.

If you’re not a friend of Google or Yahoo you really are missing out on a wealth of information. Have you ever just typed your name or company’s name into Google to see what comes up? You might be surprised! I just did that for World Dairy Expo. Here’s a sample of websites from just the first few results:

Illini DairyNet
MooMilk
Wisconsin Ag Connection
Dairy Checkoff
Dairy Strategies
Engormix

By the way, as of this morning that search netted 146,000 results!

A special crystal award will be presented to each of the seven Junior Show Grand Champion exhibitors at World Dairy Expo 2005. These unique awards will be presented annually in memory of Keith King.

King, an accomplished Milking Shorthorn breeder from Oneida, Illinois, was a lifetime supporter of World Dairy Expo and an industry leader. A former American Milking Shorthorn Society President, Dairy Shrine Guest of Honor, World Dairy Expo Dairyman of the Year and Klussendorf Award winner, he judged every major Milking Shorthorn show in the U.S. and Canada and was the first American to judge Illawara Shorthorns in Australia.

Visit here for more on the award.

Do you miss going to classes? Want to learn something that you can use in your operation? Good. Because at World Dairy Expo there’s a series of seminars on transition cows, calf and heifer management, organic dairy production, nutrient and reproductive management, genetic adaptability, holistic herd health and employee management.

There will be two seminars each day, Tuesday through Saturday. Seminars are structured with a half-hour presentation and time for discussion. Cargill Animal Nutrition, Merial, West Central Soy, Monsanto Dairy Business and Organic Valley are sponsors of this year’s seminars.

The full schedule is available here.

If you love the “Art of Dairy” then pay attention! Especially you admirers of fine art! The Holstein Foundation is pleased to announce its first annual Art Sale Catalog is now online. Visit www.holsteinfoundation.org to vote for your favorite piece, and to decide which art pieces you’ll bid on this fall! High-quality paintings, ceramics, and sculptures, all relating to dairy cattle have been donated to the Holstein Foundation Art Sale to benefit Foundation programs.

From September 1 – October 1, 2005, all visitors to the Holstein Foundation website will have the opportunity to vote for their favorite art submissions. Online voting will determine the top three People’s Choice winners in two divisions.

Don’t miss your chance to own one of these special art pieces! From October 1 – December 1, 2005 an online auction will take place on the Holstein Foundation’s website.

Donated art is still being accepted by the Holstein Foundation in two divisions: Originals – submitted by the original artist and Finders – submitted by the admirer of artwork. The fair market value (final sale price) of your donated item is a fully tax-deductible donation to the Holstein Foundation. For any questions relating to the Art Sale or donations, please contact Jodi Luttropp at 800-952-5200, ext. 4261 or jluttropp@holstein.com.