Excelling in evaluation

CAMBRIDGE, Wis. — A keen eye for cattle and solid reasons to defend his placings landed Daniel Swain on top in the Dairy Cattle Evaluation and Management Career Development Event at the National FFA Convention. Swain was one of 175 FFA members from around the country competing in the CDE during the convention Oct. 21-24 in Indianapolis.

“The fact that everyone there won their state contest, you know they’re all good at what they do,” Swain said. “You just have to try to do your best knowing that you’re competing against the best.”

Swain, a member of the Cambridge FFA Chapter, took high individual honors, while his chapter’s team placed fourth of 43 teams in the dairy cattle evaluation and management event. 

Swain is the son of Gary Swain and Dana Kelly. His teammates include his siblings, Lena Swain and Bella Kelly, as well as Curtis Peterson. The Swain family milks about 25 cows at Swaindale Genetics near Deerfield. Peterson did not grow up on a farm but has milked cows on a relative’s farm, Stenjem Acres.

Cambridge FFA advisor, Cierra Essock, said the team worked hard to achieve their goal of placing in the top four.

“They all have a passion for the dairy industry and a competitive spirit,” Essock said. “Every person on the team has an incredible work ethic in the classroom, at practice and in the barn.”

The dairy cattle evaluation and management CDE has four components: assessing pedigrees and herd records, conducting management exercises, evaluating live dairy cattle, and presenting oral reasons. The first two components are conducted as a team.

In the other components, team members individually judge six classes of Holsteins, Jerseys and Brown Swiss and then present three sets of reasons to justify their placings.

Swain took first in both placings and reasons for the Holstein and Brown Swiss classes.

“Danny has an eye for cows and knows how to talk to the judge about them,” Essock said. “He has a lot of knowledge and experience and is incredibly deserving of his national champion title. He’s put a lot of time and energy into learning a broad range of dairy knowledge and enjoys the gamble of sire selection at home on the farm.”

Swain said the judging portion is his favorite part of the contest.

“That’s the part I’ve had the most experience and practice with,” he said. I’ve been judging for nearly five years. I enjoy looking at cattle and judging them. I judge them every time I’m in a barn.”

Judging comes naturally for Swain, who trusts his gut when placing a class of cows.

“I usually judge a class within the first couple minutes, if it’s a pretty placeable class,” he said. “It doesn’t take me very long. I try to work my way through it with that initial instinct. Sometimes I have to completely switch it around because I was backwards on my gut placing.”

Swain said this scenario is most common for a class he must give reasons on.

“I will place a class and start writing my reasons, and if I don’t agree with my own reasons, then I’ll flip the pairs and make it fit the way I want it to,” he said. “I just try to do it on first impressions, and if I have to, then I take a deeper look.”

Swain said he finds oral reasons and the group presentation to be the most challenging portions.

“Reasons are always a little more challenging for me than the actual judging part because you have to memorize and practice them,” Swain said. “You only get a certain amount of time, and you have to be perfect on that one time.”

Swain has had many mentors, including his parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles.

“They’re all involved in dairy or have been in the past,” he said. “I also had multiple coaches for 4-H and FFA judging who have helped me improve my dairy and reasons skills and be a better judge. Numerous ag teachers have also helped me along the way to make it to the national level.”

The Cambridge team started their season by placing third at the south-central regional CDE contest in Janesville in March before winning the state competition in April. Mark Lundy and Maureen DeBruin, who were also Essock’s FFA and 4-H coaches 15 years ago, led on-farm practices while preparing for state.

A lot of preparation goes into competing and winning at the national level.

“My sisters and I have been judging for multiple years, so that really helps us,” Swain said. “Living on a dairy farm also helps. We have knowledge we’ve picked up through the years, which you don’t necessarily learn when practicing tests. You also have to be up to date in the dairy industry and know your facts.”

Swain is a freshman at the University of Wisconsin-Madison studying dairy and food animal management while also taking classes that put him on a pre-veterinary track.

“I definitely want to work with dairy cattle in some way in the future, especially with the breeding side,” he said.

Swain comes home every weekend to help with chores. He milks cows and feeds calves, and during show season, he and his sisters take charge of the animals and care for them daily.

“My sisters wash them, I clip them, we make sure their bedding is clean and do all the things we need to,” he said. “We work with our show animals year-round to make sure they’re ready for the fairs and looking the way we want them to.”

Sharing the team roster with his siblings was an experience that Swain said he found rewarding.

“It was cool doing it together, especially since Lena was in eighth grade when we won state; she was young for the team,” Swain said. “We haven’t won the most in judging, but we’ve done well all through the years. Being able to showcase our talents and make it to the national level was really fun. It was a chance to show what we know from living on our farm and growing up around cattle.”