57th year of World Dairy Expo did not disappoint

Looking back to last week, if there was one way to describe the 57th edition of World Dairy Expo, it might be: expect the unexpected.

The event lived up to its theme — The Golden Age of Dairy — in every way imaginable. From the beautifully-appointed show ring, to the successes celebrated on the shavings, to the glitz and glamour of supreme champion ceremonies, to the throngs of international visitors visiting the dairy mecca, to the latest and greatest on display in the trade show, the entire week was dedicated to the Golden Age of Dairy.

Those fortunate enough to be in the Coliseum on Friday afternoon — or tuned into ExpoTV — saw an epic clash of the Titans. In a class where the average classification score was a 96 points, Footloose and Shakira met yet again, with Footloose coming out on top this time. Then moments later, a dark horse came from the far end of the Coliseum, when judge Jamie Black offered his championship handshake to the leadsperson holding the halter of the winning four-year-old.

That handshake was noteworthy in a variety of ways. First off, the cow — Jeffrey-Way Hard Rock Twigs — captured the attention of a worldwide audience in what was her own backyard. Twigs was bred by the Hendrickson family of Jeffrey-Way Holsteins, located just a half-hour south of the Alliant Energy Center.

While Twigs, owned by the partnership of Kevin Doeberiener, Lindsey Bowen and Pat Conroy, claimed the senior and grand champion banners for her owners, she was merely following in line, making history with her herdmates. Earlier in the show, the winning senior three-year-old, RJR Discjockey 7509-ET, was named the intermediate champion for the partnership of Doeberiener, Conroy and Butlerview Farm. (Discjockey 7509 is now owned by the partnership of Ferme Blondin, Fairbanks Cattle Company and Butlerview.) The evening before, the winning spring yearling —Genesee Altitude Leah — was named junior champion of the International Holstein Show before going on to be named the supreme junior champion for Doeberiener, Bowen and Conroy, along with partners Clarkvalley and Osinga.

Another interesting note for showing enthusiasts, Twigs won her banners wearing a Phantom cable halter — a move that may become trendsetting in the dairy show arena. Another bit of excitement to tuck away for the years to come — a beautiful, youthful Tatoo daughter of Footloose topped the milking yearling class. What will her future bring?

The Holstein show was not the only place where exciting and notable occurrences happened. In the International Guernsey Show’s spring yearling class, five flushmates placed in the top six of the class. A group of James Dean daughters from the recently departed show ring superstar Pond N Pines Beau Nutter Butter — including judge Lynn Harbaugh’s eventual junior champion — flooded the top of the class, locking in the premier breeder of the heifer show banner for their breeders, the Haag and Dorn families.

On Tuesday night, as the Ayrshire Show wrapped up, two sisters hailing from Quebec had the thrill of a lifetime, as two of their homebred cows stood in the final lineup for champion. Bianca Foley watched in awe as her sister, Vicky, received the first congratulatory high-five from judge Brandon Ferry, for their winning five-year-old, Vieux Village Gentleman Joy, being named senior and grand champion. The excitement built as Vicky witnessed Bianca on the receiving end of the second handshake as their four-year-old, Vieux Village G Montana, was named reserve senior and reserve champion.

What made the night even more special for the pair of sisters was that exactly 10 years prior, to the day, with their father on the halter, another homebred cow, Vieux Village C Diamond, captured the same banner.

The golden moments of World Dairy Expo did not only happen on the Coliseum floor. Throughout the grounds, it is the people who are truly the foundation for everything Expo is. Cattle exhibitors, trade show exhibitors and a variety of industry enthusiasts from around the globe flock to the center of the dairy universe each and every fall. It is the connections made among industry enthusiasts that make Expo the place to be.

I had the fortune of meeting members of a delegation from Kazakhstan and being able to hear about not only the dairy industry but life in their country. What really struck me was the biggest takeaway they had from their experience — that despite everything dairy farmers are facing globally, they realized that everyone at Expo was wearing a smile, all happy to just be there, gathered in the one place in the world completely focused on everything golden and wonderful about the industry that is more a way of life than a career choice.

A world-class event like Expo does not just happen. Countless hours go in behind the scenes to make each and every Expo the best one yet. The many hours toiled over the past 57 years, the blood, sweat and sometimes tears that flow are often unseen, but each droplet has been shed in an effort to commemorate the dairy industry in the most remarkable fashion. For that, we all should be grateful.

Harbaugh, who donned a tuxedo and walked to the center of the Coliseum floor for the 10th time on Oct. 2 — nine as an official judge and once as an associate — to place the International Guernsey Show, summed up the heart of the event.

“This thing is a well-oiled machine,” Harbaugh said. “The people inside this institution bleed Ayrshire and Brown Swiss, they bleed Guernsey, Jersey, Holstein, Milking Shorthorn, Red & White and they bleed youth — this is the greatest show on earth, regardless of breed.”