Bailey named National Guernsey Queen

TOMAH, Wis. — The National Guernsey Queen was selected in early July at the National Guernsey convention held in Bellingham, Washington. Wisconsin native Josie Bailey earned the honor and her reign as the national leader has commenced.

Her passion for the Guernsey breed started in 2021, and although she’s relatively new to the breed, it has taken hold deep in her heart.

“I was first introduced to Guernseys when I went to the state fair with my friend, Izzy Mason,” Bailey said. “Izzy was showing her yearling that she had won through the Guernsey essay contest. I just fell in love with their docile personality and their component production.”

Guernsey milk contains 4.7%-5.0% butterfat and 3.5%-3.8% protein, making the Guernsey one of the dairy industry’s high-component breeds. What also drew Bailey to the Guernsey breed was its ability to produce A2A2 milk, a growing trend nationally among dairy consumers. 

“That milk is opening new markets and people are interested in purchasing that specifically, and products made from it,” Bailey said.

Bailey is the daughter of Nelda and Brock Bailey and works on her family’s farm, Bailey’s Cherry Valley Dairy near Tomah.  Her family milks 350 cows with six robotic milking units installed in March 2024. The herd has six of the seven major North American dairy breeds, with Guernseys being introduced by the current National Guernsey Queen.

“I started with the Guernseys three years ago this spring,” Bailey said. “It’s exciting because I’ve grown up here on my family’s fifth-generation dairy farm. Representing not only my family’s dairy farm, but the dairy industry at the national level is really exciting.”

She began working on the farm at a young age, helping feed calves and do other chores where needed. Now, Bailey has developed her own herd of 10 Guernseys at Bailey’s Cherry Valley Dairy. She consults with her father about herd management decisions.

“It’s an exciting, full circle moment — to start out feeding calves and now to making genetic choices,” Bailey said. “We’re a commercial herd, so production is a big thing, but also longevity. We have some cows that have been in the barn for over 10 years. It’s also been fun to see an animal that I’ve made the breeding choices for, then have a calf that you can slowly start seeing those choices you’ve made and how it comes into your own herd.”

The National Guernsey Queen honor is not Bailey’s first royalty position within the dairy community as she was the 2023 Vernon County Princess and the 2024 Wisconsin Guernsey Princess. She also earned the 2025 Wisconsin Outstanding Guernsey Youth award and this year’s FFA Agriculture Communications Proficiency honor. 

“It’s really exciting that I went from state princess to the national stage,” Bailey said. “Now I have an opportunity to advocate for the industry, the Guernsey breed, but also build those connections, which I’ve really enjoyed. I’ve also had the opportunity to build my herd from one to 10, so that’s something that’s really given me a voice in the industry.”

As part of her duties, Bailey will attend national shows within her area, the first of which is World Dairy Expo, in Madison. The second is the North American International Livestock Exposition in Louisville, Kentucky.

“I’ve never been to Louisville or Kentucky in general,” Bailey said. “I’m excited to see what it’s all about. Everybody raves about it.”

She will also be running the National Guernsey Royalty Facebook and Instagram pages, hoping to grow the exposure of the pages over the next year.

“We’re doing a couple of campaigns right now,” Bailey said. “We have a Whey Back Wednesday where people submit pictures and we can talk about different pieces of Guernsey history. We’re also doing Member Monday, because there are a lot of members who sometimes people don’t realize are members. The people we feature share their favorite Guernsey memory, so it connects people who might not normally be connected.”

Bailey cites previous experience as helping her to run the national page, as she also managed social media pages as the Wisconsin Guernsey Princess. One issue she does hope to draw more attention to is sharing the road with agricultural equipment.

“I want to be an advocate for farmers since that is a big worry, especially around Vernon and Monroe counties,” Bailey said. “We’ve had two incidents in the past year where we’ve been in farm accidents from people passing us in no passing zones. It’s a big concern that we’ve tried to voice.”

Through her Guernsey herd, Bailey also plans to give her five younger siblings more opportunities to show cattle.

“We’ve all started out showing in Little Britches,” Bailey said. “Now having the opportunity to show Guernseys, this gives them more of an opening instead of, here’s a Jersey spring calf, or here’s a November calf, it gives them more chances. The docile personality also really helps because my youngest sibling is five, so that personality is perfect for him right now.”