World Dairy Expo has a new Dairy Cattle Show Manager, Laura Herschleb, Beaver Dam, Wis. It’s hard to believe Expo is less than six months away!
Herschleb has worked as a communications coordinator for Agri-Nutrition Consulting; was Director of Agricultural Programs for the Fond du Lac Association of Commerce; and most recently was a regional marketing coordinator with Alltech. She holds a degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she majored in dairy science and agricultural journalism with a business emphasis. An active member of the Badger Dairy Club while on campus; she now serves as the club’s industry advisor. Herschleb has also served as a leader and dairy bowl coach for the Washington County Junior Holstein Association and is a member of the Badger Chapter of the National Agri-Marketing Association. She grew up in southeastern Wisconsin and continues working with her family’s registered herd of dairy cattle at Kolwy Acres Dairy Farm.
Herschleb’s new job responsibilities will include managing all aspects of the world’s premier dairy cattle show. In addition to her World Dairy Expo responsibilities, Herschleb will also manage the fair’s entry department, assist with WROF’s scholarship program and provide support to NAIDC and PDCA.
The Wisconsin Dairy Products Association (WDPA) is looking for a few good judges for their annual World Dairy Expo Championship Dairy Product Contest. The contest, held in conjunction with the World Dairy Expo, is in its sixth year. Do you have what it takes to be a judge? Then be sure to get your resume to the WDPA by May 23, 2008!
This year’s contest will have 55 different categories, encompassing a wide range of dairy products that include, cheese, butter, milk, ice cream, yogurt, whey, cottage cheese, sour cream, whipping cream and more.
WDPA is issuing a “call for judges” for the championship dairy product contest. WDPA is seeking judges for these products:
Cheese and Butter – 10 judges needed
Yogurt – 2 judges
Ice Cream and Sherbet – 2 judges
Whey Products – 2 judges
Cottage Cheese, Sour Cream and Sour Cream Dips – 2 judges
Fluid Milk and Cultured Buttermilk – 2 judges
Interested parties should send their resumes to Wisconsin Dairy Products Assn, 8383 Greenway Blvd, Middleton, WI 53562.
Posted: March 21, 2008 at 10:54 am
By Chuck Zimmerman
The World Dairy Expo has elected some new leaders at their recent annual meeting as follows:
President: Mike Holschbach, Heatherstone Enterprises, Inc., Baraboo
Vice President: Phil Niemeyer, Nasco, Vice President, Fort Atkinson
Secretary/Treasurer: Dean Hermsdorf, Vita Plus Corporation, Cottage Grove
Also serving on the Executive Committee are:
John Dalton, Daltondale Farms, Hartland. Ray Kuehl, Purebred Breeders of World Dairy Expo, Waunakee; Roger Ripley Accelerated Genetics, Baraboo; Bill Barlass, Barlass Jerseys, Janesville; and Bob Kaiser, University of Wisconsin Extension, Juneau. World Dairy Expo General Manager, Mark Clarke and Will Hughes of the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection serve as ex-officio members of the Executive Committee.
Holschbach succeeds Roger Ripley as president of the board. Ripley, who is the President and CEO of Accelerated Genetics, has served on World Dairy Expo’s Board of Directors since 1985. A member of the Executive Committee for 16 years, he served as board president for the past six years.
Posted: January 18, 2008 at 5:39 pm
By News Editor
The 2008 World Dairy Expo, scheduled for September 30 - October 4 in Madison, Wis., has announced the official judges for the dairy shows. The 2008 theme: “Building Bridges – Making Connections” promises to make for an exciting ring display!
The individuals responsible for placing nearly 2,500 head of dairy cattle during the five-day show are:
Central National Ayrshire Show – Steve White, New Castle, Indiana
Central National Brown Swiss Show – Wayne Sliker, St. Paris, Ohio
National Guernsey Show - Madison – Carrie Sears, South Deerfield, Massachusetts
International Holstein Show – Brian Carscadden, Guelph, Ontario Canada
Central National Jersey Show – Ron Rider, Upton, Kentucky
International Milking Shorthorn Show – Ted Smart, Anna, Ohio
Grand International Red & White Show – Perry Phend, Osseo, Wisconsin
Posted: November 16, 2007 at 8:38 pm
By News Editor
World Dairy Expo is seeking outstanding leaders from across the international dairy industry their annual recognition awards. Official applications are available online.
“We’re encouraging people to nominate someone who has demonstrated exceptional leadership,” says general manager, Mark Clarke. “Recognizing these individuals during World Dairy Expo showcases the leadership present in the dairy industry and adds to the excitement of Expo.”
Nominations will be accepted through February 1, 2008 in the four following categories: Industry Person of the Year, Dairyman of the Year, Dairy Woman of the Year and International Person of the Year.
The Industry Person of the Year award is presented to an individual in recognition of excellence in research, development, education, marketing or other fields that are part of the dairy industry.
The Dairyman and Dairy Woman of the Year awards are presented to individuals who are active dairy producers and whose primary source of income is derived from their dairy operation. His/her farming operation needs to demonstrate and excel in efficient production and breeding of quality animals. Progressive management practices, along with involvement in community, government activities, breed organizations and other aspects of the dairy industry, will also be considered.
The International Person of the Year will be recognized for significantly contributing to international relations, business development, trade or cooperation in the dairy industry.
World Dairy Expo’s Board of Directors announced today that Mark Clarke will succeed Tom McKittrick as General Manager effective November 12. Clarke will be the fifth person to serve as General Manager in World Dairy Expo’s 41 year history.
Clarke is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-River Falls with a degree in animal science and has served for the past four years as a product manager at BouMatic. Prior to that, he served for six years as General Manager of Pharming Health Care, Inc. in DeForest, Wisconsin. Clarke began his dairy industry career as an independent sales and marketing representative, working for ABS Global for nine years.
World Dairy Expo Board President Roger Ripley notes, “Our new General Manager has varied experience in both the cattle and commercial industries. He’s also worked in the biotechnology field. His skills in people management, financial oversight and planning, negotiations and government and legislative interaction make him an ideal candidate for this position. He is an energetic idea person, a team player and a real family person.”
Clarke resides in DeForest, with his wife Michele, eleven-year-old son Brandon and six-year-old daughter Mikayla.
You only thought we were done with stuff from World Dairy Expo.
I did an interview at expo with John Deere Hay and Forage Specialist Jim Buchs on how dairy producers can get added value for forage at harvest with Harvest Lab.
“We put a unit on our forage harvester that can measure the moisture as its going through the machine,” Buchs said. “With that information, we can calculate the true tonnage that we are harvesting.”
That information can be used to adjust the harvesting rate to the receiving rate at the bunker silo so you can adjust packing tractors or other required applications.
Listen to our “Milking Parlor” podcast with Jim here:
Congratulations are in order for the Penn State dairy judging team for taking top honors in the 87th Intercollegiate Dairy Cattle Judging Contest at World Dairy Expo. The Cornell University team placed second overall, with Virginia Tech rounding out the top three. Twenty-three teams competed in this year’s contest.
Top Three Teams Overall
1. Penn State; 2533; coached by Dale Olver
Team members included Charlene Barlieb, Trisha Knight, David Wilson and Turner Swartz
2. Cornell University; 2510; coached by Galton and Winkelman
Team members included Dennis Miguel, Andrew Mason, Jenae Rinehart and Austin Copenhaver
3. Virginia Tech; 2475; coached by Barnes and Knowlton
Team members included Michael Bosley, Jill Craun, Sonja Galley and Aaron Horst
Overall Top 10 Individuals
1. Charlene Barlieb, 864, Penn State
2. Trisha Knight, 852, Penn State
3. Jenae Rinehart, 846, Cornell University
4. Andrew Mason, 845, Cornell University
5. Linda Behling, 842, UW Madison
6. Annie Sprecht, 836, Ohio State University
7. Sonja Galley, 832, Virginia Tech
8. John Kisst, 830, Cal Poly State University
9. Jill Craun, 828, Virginia Tech
10. John Mitchel, 828, University of Illinois
Posted: October 8, 2007 at 9:30 am
By Chuck Zimmerman
I’m slowly lowering my cheese intake this week after the massive amounts served to us at World Dairy Expo last week. The picture is of one of the outside vendors. I took it when I was leaving late one night.
Here’s some official summary information from the World Dairy Expo staff that I thought you’d be interested to know:
Total Attendance: 67,143 (Last year’s attendance was 65,563)
International Guests: * 2,862 from 89 countries (2006: 2,131 from 80 countries)
Top five countries of international attendance: Mexico (273); Canada (269); Germany (201); Argentina (184); Japan (146)
* does not include International Dairy Short Course attendees as of 10/06/07
Commercial Exhibitors: 707 companies from 24 countries
Posted: October 6, 2007 at 9:12 pm
By Chuck Zimmerman
The 2007 World Dairy Expo is over and it ended with a great Parade of Champions. You can see pictures of all the action in my photo album. There’s 242 of them in there!
Here’s your Supreme Champion, Indian Acres Mm Pistachio Pie, Ashley Elise Sears, So. Deerfield, MA . Jersey was the Reserve Supreme Champion, Llolyn Jude Griffen-et, Peter Vail & Budjon Farms, Lomira, WI.
You can listen to the announcing of the Reserve and Supreme Champions of the 2007 World Dairy Expo here:
Posted: October 6, 2007 at 2:46 pm
By Chuck Zimmerman
I couldn’t pass up this picture.
If I’m a cow needing a little breeze to cool me down then give me a Big Ass Fan.
That’s what I’m talking about. One of these would be very nice over by deck too I’ll bet.
Here’s what they say about them on their website: “We don’t know about California, but we’re darn sure happy cows come from Big Ass Fans. How so? Well, you try doing your job under Africa-hot conditions. Bet you wouldn’t perform at your best level either. The same applies to cows. Keeping them comfy keeps them eating, which is the key to optimum milk production. Even better, your herd won’t bunch up in one area to keep cool. No matter where cows are in your barn, our Big Ass Fans moves air over all of them. Plus, they cost just pennies-per-hour to operate, meaning energy bills won’t milk your wallet dry.”
Posted: October 6, 2007 at 2:40 pm
By Chuck Zimmerman
When I saw a booth that posed the question, “How is a cow like an ethanol production plant?” I had to stop for a visit.
Manning the booth is Nick Baker, U. S. Dairy Forage Research Center. Nick says that basically the cow’s rumen uses microbes to break down forage and feed into the energy it needs much like an ethanol plant which then converts the sugars produced into alcohol. ‘Nuff said.
I asked him his take on the whole food vs. fuel debate and he believes as I do that there’s plenty of biomass available to not only meet food production needs but energy as well. He’s working on a project to utilize switchgrass in the production of ethanol and says the technology is available now to do so.
Posted: October 6, 2007 at 2:33 pm
By Chuck Zimmerman
The National Dairy Shrine is having a great year according to board member Tommy Martin. Tommy is an old friend of mine (he’s not old) from my home state of Florida. He works for Merial. I found him in the trade show this morning and asked him to give me an update on how the National Dairy Shrine is doing.
Tommy says the banquet they had here at Expo was very well attended. In fact, he thinks attendance at the show must be up since it sure seems busy. He says that at the banquet they honored their 2007 Distinguished Dairy Cattle Breeder of the Year, Bob Miller and Distinguished Guest, Dr. H. Duane Norman.
Here’s how the National Dairy Shrine benefits the industry: “National Dairy Shrine annually provides more than $35,000 in awards and scholarships for college students, dairy producers and industry leaders. Funds for these scholarships come from membership fees, interest on a $1 million endowment fund, and voluntary contributions. National Dairy Shrine also provides financial support for World Dairy Expo and National 4-H Dairy Conference.”
Posted: October 6, 2007 at 2:20 pm
By Chuck Zimmerman
When you go to Hawaii you get a nice lei of flowers when you get off the plane. When you go to Wisconsin it’s bratwurst and cheese. It’s the Original Wisconsin Lei.
The Lei’d Back inventor is Steve Rheaume. He says he’s sold over 3,000 of these so far and they’re becoming very popular for football games and wherever you want to show your Wisconsin pride.
Steve’s an agricultural tax consulting expert who says he took a sabbatical to Hawaii for a couple years to unwind and get relaxed. When he got back the idea for the Wisconsin Lei just came to him as something he could give to friends and family who would come all the way to north Wisconsin to visit. Now he’s got a great side business going.
Posted: October 6, 2007 at 2:12 pm
By Chuck Zimmerman
Kay Zwald is a Wisconsin dairy producer doing some promotional work here at Expo. She’s been on the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board for about a year.
This morning she’s here promoting Wisconsin dairy and cheese to consumers and talking with producers. Kay says that producers are most often asking what’s being done with their funds to promote the industry.
She says that everyone seems to be happy. That’s a theme of almost every conversation I’ve had here this week.
Posted: October 6, 2007 at 11:41 am
By Chuck Zimmerman
It’s a beautiful day here at World Dairy Expo. The sun’s shining and the crowd is growing.
I’m going to be here all the way through the parade of champions which is scheduled for 5pm this evening. Today’s schedule looks like this:
7:15 AM 4-H Dairy Quiz Bowl
8:00 AM International Holstein Show - cows & groups
11:00 AM Education Seminar
Noon Virtual Farm Tour
1:00 PM Education Seminar
5:00 PM Parade of Champions and Selection of 2007 Supreme Champions
6:00 PM World Dairy Expo 2007 Closes
The grown up dairy producers aren’t the only ones who are happy here.
This little guy was obviously enjoying the trade show where I found him when I was out walking around.
I haven’t had an opportunity to interview many producers yet so I’m going to wander around and see what who I can find that would like to talk.
Posted: October 6, 2007 at 11:00 am
By Chuck Zimmerman
Dairy producers are looking at precision agriculture equipment to help them become more efficient according to Mid-State Equipment’s Chuck Endres. Chuck is exhibiting here at Expo and says that the farmers he’s been talking with are in a very optimistic mood.
When it comes to precision equipment he says the biggest benefit to dairy producers is dealing with moisture when making haylage. He says the equipment they’re selling includes moisture sensing and yield monitoring on their John Deere Choppers. This not only allows the producer to quickly and easily measure moisture content but saves the time of having to run loads to a scale. Producers can learn more about what John Deere is doing with precision agriculture on their Precision Pays website (ZimmComm New Media helps manage this site).
I asked him how this will return the investment and he provides says it could mean the difference between having spoilage and turning cows off feed and that’s a cost no producer wants to deal with.
Posted: October 6, 2007 at 10:44 am
By Chuck Zimmerman
The International Forum for Women in Dairying will be holding its global dairy conference prior to the 2008 World Dairy Expo according to Kathy LaScala, chairperson.
Kathy was on hand for our media talk session so I asked her what this is all about. She says you can find out more on their website. The dates are September 28 & 29, 2008 at the Madison Concourse Hotel.
Kathy says the conference will feature many speakers and plenty of opportunities for women to network with each other since they face the same challenges regardless of what country they’re from.
Posted: October 6, 2007 at 10:33 am
By Chuck Zimmerman
Paula Maebon is on the Dairy Checkoff board. She was on hand here at Expo to talk about what the Checkoff is doing for dairy producers.
For one thing she says they’re working hard to make sure the public has a good image of dairy producers. For that reason they created the DairyFarmingToday.org website. It provides consumers with lots of information about dairy farming.
She says that dairy producers should go to DairyCheckoff.com to get information about the work and activities of the Checkoff.
Posted: October 5, 2007 at 3:43 pm
By Chuck Zimmerman
Cindy says that I need to get more pictures of cows on here.
I’m trying. Things have been busy working with our sponsors and with interviews with people who have been around the media room.
This afternoon I got to spend a couple hours wandering around on a photo shoot so you can find more in the photo album. I’m going to try to get more tomorrow, including some producer interviews.
I’m not doing a lot of coverage of the shows because there’s so many and Expo is posting the results on their website. Feel free to check them out since they update them each day.
World Dairy Expo has a new Dairy Cattle Show Manager, Laura Herschleb, Beaver Dam, Wis. It’s hard to believe Expo is less than six months away!
The 
Clarke is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-River Falls with a degree in animal science and has served for the past four years as a product manager at BouMatic. Prior to that, he served for six years as General Manager of Pharming Health Care, Inc. in DeForest, Wisconsin. Clarke began his dairy industry career as an independent sales and marketing representative, working for ABS Global for nine years.
You only thought we were done with stuff from World Dairy Expo.
I’m slowly lowering my cheese intake this week after the massive amounts served to us at World Dairy Expo last week. The picture is of one of the outside vendors. I took it when I was leaving late one night.
The 2007 World Dairy Expo is over and it ended with a great Parade of Champions. You can see pictures of all the action in my photo album. There’s 242 of them in there!
I couldn’t pass up this picture.
When I saw a booth that posed the question, “How is a cow like an ethanol production plant?” I had to stop for a visit.
The 
Here’s how the National Dairy Shrine benefits the industry: “National Dairy Shrine annually provides more than $35,000 in awards and scholarships for college students, dairy producers and industry leaders. Funds for these scholarships come from membership fees, interest on a $1 million endowment fund, and voluntary contributions. National Dairy Shrine also provides financial support for World Dairy Expo and National 4-H Dairy Conference.”
When you go to Hawaii you get a nice lei of flowers when you get off the plane. When you go to Wisconsin it’s bratwurst and cheese. It’s the 
Kay Zwald is a Wisconsin dairy producer doing some promotional work here at Expo. She’s been on the 
It’s a beautiful day here at World Dairy Expo. The sun’s shining and the crowd is growing.
The grown up dairy producers aren’t the only ones who are happy here. 
Dairy producers are looking at precision agriculture equipment to help them become more efficient according to 
The International Forum for Women in Dairying will be holding its global dairy conference prior to the 2008 World Dairy Expo according to Kathy LaScala, chairperson.
Kathy says the conference will feature many speakers and plenty of opportunities for women to network with each other since they face the same challenges regardless of what country they’re from.
Paula Maebon is on the Dairy Checkoff board. She was on hand here at Expo to talk about what the Checkoff is doing for dairy producers. 
Cindy says that I need to get more pictures of cows on here.