MANITOWOC CO. (NBC 26) — Friends since they were young, the bond the Manitowoc County Senior Dairy Judging team has formed has helped them on their way to nationals.
"Cows really connect us and are really our passion anyway," said Emma Vos, a dairy judging team member.
The team recently won the Wisconsin State Dairy Judging competition in August and will compete at nationals, or as we know it, the World Dairy Expo at the end of the month. For Lauren Siemers, Clarissa Ulness, Emma Vos, and Jenna Gries, it's an opportunity they're excited to share together.
"It was something we were really working toward," added Ulness. "We've all grown up seeing other teams before us from Manitowoc County have that chance to win and compete at Expo. It was pretty cool we finally got to have that chance and do it as a big group of friends."
So what is a dairy judging competition? Essentially, it's being able to know what a good cow looks like and explain it. (Here's a list of the World Dairy Expo rules, just scroll to the bottom of page 6) While each team member judges a group of cows individually, their scores are then combined for their overall county score.
"If you can't know what a good cow looks like and how to sort through your animals at home to find the best one to show, you're going to run into problems later down the road," said Siemers.
This will be Manitowoc County's third time going to nationals in the last 10 years, led by coaches Angie Ulness and Paul Siemers. They will compete September 27, the day before the Expo starts at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison.
Watch the full story above to learn more about the World Dairy Expo's impact in Wisconsin.
