Learning halfway around the world

BATTICE, Belgium — Six young dairy enthusiasts from the U.S. had the opportunity to travel to Belgium to take part in the Young Breeders School, Aug. 28-Sept. 1 in Battice. This is the first time the U.S. has been represented in the 22-year-old European contest.

Dave Schmocker, a hoof trimmer based in Whitewater, Wisconsin, headed up the first U.S. delegation to the event.

“It’s been something that has been in the works for five or six years,” Dave said. “Erica (Rijneveld) has been after me for several years to bring kids over. She calls me every spring and I agree we need to get the ball rolling, but never seem to get it done. This year, she just booked it for us, so we needed to get it done.”

Rijneveld, a dairy cattle fitter in the Netherlands, has been a long-time supporter of the school, teaching for at least 17 years, Dave said.

Since 1999, more than 2,000 young people representing 24 countries have traveled to Belgium to take part in YBS. The school is open to youth ages 13-25 and is taught in four languages. This year, 17 countries sent teams to compete.

Participants were tasked with preparing heifers for a show, plus each day included demonstrations and lectures on a variety of topics, including washing, creating a bedding pack, clipping, nutrition, judging and marketing. Each topic included a short exam, allowing the participants to collect points towards the final standings.

Three Wisconsin youth from a nationwide pool of 23 applicants were chosen to attend by a selection committee: Alli Walker of Wisconsin Dells, Jacob Harbaugh of Marion and Stella Schmocker of Whitewater. Joining them on Team USA were Hayden Reichard of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, Camryn Crothers of Pitcher, New York, and Lauren Silveira of Chowchilla, California.

Each year, the school is held in Battice in conjunction with a local agricultural exhibition.

“It would be like having it during a big county fair, here,” Dave said. “They usually have a cow show there, but this year it was canceled due to an outbreak of blue tongue. They only brought in the heifers used for the school.”

Local breeders supply heifers for YBS, and each participant is randomly assigned a heifer, leaving much of the outcome to chance.

“There’s definitely an element of luck involved,” Dave Schmocker said. “I told the kids we weren’t going to win the conformation classes, and the heifers didn’t have great hair, so they weren’t going to win the fitting contest. But we might as well make good use of our time and really focus on teaching and learning how to clip. They did a great job at that, working as a team. Our three younger girls probably learned more than anyone else there that week.”

Despite showing dairy cattle their entire lives, both Walker and Stella Schmocker agreed the clipping aspect was daunting.

“I knew the basics, but I really didn’t know how to carve out a topline or set it,” Stella Schmocker said. “That was something big I learned.”

Walker said despite being the oldest member of the team, the lack of experience in fitting nearly kept her from applying for the opportunity.

“You certainly don’t need to be a fitter to go,” Walker said. “I’m glad I didn’t let that fear hold me back.”

Preparing to exhibit dairy cattle they had never seen before and halfway around the world presented challenges for the group, Walker said.

“They gave us the basic supplies we needed, like a wheelbarrow, fork, shovel, rake and the sprays we would need,” Walker said. “All the heifers came with halters, but we did bring our own nylon ones. The display was challenging. I had made signs we could write on, but Dave had to go to a hardware store and buy things to make a display. Some of the European teams had really intricate, involved displays.”

Besides the obstacles the team faced in creating their display, the group had to invest in a complete set of fitting supplies to share.

“Clippers over there run on 220,” Dave said. “Erica sold us clippers at her cost, but it was still $2,500 worth of stuff — clippers, blowers, Argos and brushes. Everything we bought or took over for the show this year, we were able to leave there for next year.”

Once they committed to the adventure, the group raised funds to help subsidize the trip. They raised enough money from cash donations, a donated embryo sale and an apparel sale to cover the expenses of all team members, as well as the needed purchases.

“Our industry is small enough, we need to make sure we are keeping the really good kids involved,” Dave said. “I think raising enough money that it’s a sponsored trip is important. It’s really not that much money for each kid — basically like $1,500 total. They stay with host families and all their food is covered. If our industry can’t raise $20,000 a year to invest in our youth, we are going to be in trouble.”

The learning experiences the group enjoyed were not limited directly to the competition at YBS. 

“Meeting people, staying with a host family, seeing the countryside in Belgium and how they live — it was a great experience,” Harbaugh said. “You hear about how differently dairy farming has to occur in other areas of the world because of different laws and regulations, but it is really eye-opening to actually see it.”

Echoing her dad’s sentiments that the youngest participants learned the most, Stella said she has already noticed the impact of the communication skills she developed in that short week.

“My biggest takeaway was learning to open up and communicate,” Stella said. “Most of my life I’ve been kind of shy. At YBS I was forced to talk to more people, both my team and the other teachers and participants.”

Watching the development of the six youth he chaperoned and coached at YBS gave Dave Schmocker excitement for seeing the program continue.

“This is such a great program and offers so much more than just competing,” Dave said. “I hope to develop a committee to oversee it, to find someone who can really give it the time and dedication to ensure it’s done right, to continue providing our youth with this experience.”