Reaching dairy judging goals

“What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.” – Zig Ziglar

Back in August before the start of the Minnesota State Fair, I asked Dan and Monika about their goals for the fair. They each had several goals, but one goal topped the rest: do well enough in the state 4-H dairy judging contest to earn a spot on the dairy judging team that represents Minnesota 4-H at the NAILE Youth Dairy Judging Contest in Louisville, Kentucky. Minnesota 4-H sends a composite team of the top four judges who aren’t part of the first or second place teams.

For Dan, this was a goal held over from last year’s state contest. After judging at World Dairy Expo in 2022, he was eager to judge at another national 4-H contest. But, as anyone who understands dairy judging knows, success in dairy judging comes partly from skill and partly from luck. The stars didn’t align for him in the 2023 state contest.

While his eligibility to judge in Louisville doesn’t end until next year, the goal of making the team felt a little more urgent this year. Dan also has a goal of competing in the National FFA Dairy Cattle Evaluation Contest in 2025, inspired by his team’s second place finish at the state contest last spring. But NAILE has a longstanding rule that prohibits 4-H students and FFA students from competing in both a national contest and NAILE in the same calendar year. So, earning a spot on the Louisville team this year would prevent the need to choose between contests next year.

Monika wanted a spot on the Louisville team for a similar reason. This is her first year judging at the senior level, so she has several years to qualify for the Louisville team. But, she’s on the same FFA dairy cattle evaluation team as Dan, so with any luck, she’ll go to Indianapolis, Indiana, next year. After that, she has her sights set on helping her county team earn a spot in the National 4-H Dairy Judging Contest in Madison, Wisconsin.

Both Dan and Monika also felt it would be special to judge at a national contest together. And since Dan has already judged at Madison and is ineligible for Harrisburg, the contest at Louisville was their only opportunity. Let me pause for a moment here to say that seeing my kids encourage each other and want to compete together makes me incredibly happy.

When the state contest awards were announced, Dan and Monika had both secured a spot on the Louisville team.

So, two weeks ago, we set our compass for Louisville. We picked up Kevin, my fellow coach, and Garrett, another 4-H student named to the team, along the way. Tyler, the final member of the team, met us at the contest. We enjoyed visiting a couple dairy farms along the way for judging practice and plenty of Culver’s fresh frozen custard.

The Saturday morning contest went well. It was neat to see the green shavings again; I judged in Louisville as a 4-H student, but I haven’t been back to the show since then. Monika said she got a bit nervous right before her first set of reasons, but was able to shake it off before the next three sets. I reminded her that being nervous at a national contest is completely understandable. Dan saw the classes a little differently than Monika and I did, but said he felt confident.

It was a bit nerve wracking to wait until the Sunday morning awards breakfast to find out how everyone did. The goals for this contest were less clearly defined – more along the lines of “do well.” And, truly, judging at a national contest is an honor in itself; earning an award at a national contest is like the cherry on top of the sundae.

As it turned out, the stars aligned and all their practice paid off. Dan placed fourth in reasons, fourth overall, fourth in Holsteins, and eighth in Brown Swiss. There was actually a four-way tie for first in reasons, but the tie was broken based on lowest placings scores in reasons classes. Dan placed the reasons classes best, so he ended up fourth. Monika placed seventh in reasons, twentieth overall, first in Brown Swiss, and first in Jerseys.

As a team, Minnesota 4-H was first in reasons, third overall, first in Brown Swiss, first in Holsteins, and top seven in every other breed. It was pretty cool that everyone on the team went home with a couple ribbons, some hardware, and a couple breed gifts. 

As a coach, the award I am most proud of is the blue ribbon each team member received for winning team reasons. In dairy judging, kids and coaches don’t always place classes the same way the officials do; we each have individual biases and priorities. But in reasons, there’s less subjectivity. Defending your placings better than everyone else in the contest is an incredible accomplishment.

I think it’s fair to say they “did well.” Goals were set and goals were met. And in striving to reach those goals, these kids have developed skills that will serve them well for the rest of their lives: the ability to remain calm under pressure, make critical decisions quickly, and then confidently explain those decisions. It truly isn’t about what they got, but what they’ve become.

Well done, kids.

Sadie Frericks and her husband, Glen, milk 100 cows near Melrose, Minnesota. They have three children: Dan, Monika and Daphne. Sadie also writes a blog at www.dairygoodlife.com. She can be reached at [email protected].