MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — Maggie Wingert, a Fillmore Central FFA member, topped the Minnesota State FFA Convention’s dairy cattle evaluation and management event. Wingert won the contest by three points April 20, sealing her team’s win and a trip to Indianapolis, Indiana, for the National FFA Convention contest.
It is not Wingert’s first dairy judging success.
“I normally have a pretty good score,” said Wingert, a high school sophomore from Harmony. “I enjoy finding what I want in a proper cow. It’s best not to overthink it, to go with what you feel is right.”
Wingert comes from a 100-cow dairy owned by her parents, Jim and Randi Wingert. Her teammates include two others from active dairy farms: Anna Gartner, daughter of Larry and Sherri Gartner, and Sawyer Johnson, son of Michael and Margaret Johnson. Another team member, Sarah Schriever, is the daughter of Paul and Nicki Schriever and formerly from a dairy farm. Schriever earned ninth in the competition while Gardner was 15th.
Three of the team members — Wingert, Gartner and Johnson — have also judged together in 4-H. Wingert said it works well for them.
“It feels like we’ve been on the team together forever,” she said. “We understand how each of us sees cows, and we all get along.”
Winning the dairy cattle evaluation and management Career Development Event at the state convention qualifies the team to move on to national competition, a trip to which Wingert looks forward.
“I want to make the best of it for us,” she said. “Even if we don’t win there, it will be a good experience.”
Johnson is also looking forward to the national competition, but for him, the honor is bittersweet. That is because Johnson is brand new to FFA as a seventh-grader, and FFA rules only allow one national trip per CDE in a student’s career. He can never again compete on an FFA dairy cattle evaluation and management team.
At the FFA convention, the names of the top five teams and top five individuals are announced the first night, and those representatives are on stage to hear the final placings the next day.
Johnson said that being called to stand on stage for the announcement of placings, starting from lowest to highest, was nerve-wracking. The announcements started with naming the top five individuals in the contest, with team placings still a mystery.
“When Maggie was called out for first (individual), I was very, very happy but kind of freaking out,” Johnson said. “It was very intense.”
Wingert said she uses her judging expertise at home to pick out show cows. The FFA contest includes a sire selection class, and Wingert said that knowledge is helpful for deciding which cows at home should be bred to a certain bull. Her involvement in the farm includes milking twice each day, working with calves and other chores.
Her sisters, Madylan and Morgan, also excelled in their judging careers. Madylan Wingert topped a 4-H state contest, while Morgan traveled to Pennsylvania to judge for FFA.
Wingert’s closest competitor at the FFA contest was Hanna Gudknecht of Kenyon-Wanamingo FFA, followed by Kyli Ketchum of Lewiston-Altura FFA in third.
Gudknecht’s team, which also included Cora Foss and Ben and Matthew Scheffler, placed second. Goodhue FFA was third, with Clara Benrud, Garrett Pearson, Liesl Vieseth and Curtis Klindworth on the team.
Other honors awarded during the convention for FFA members focused on dairy included proficiency awards, where the winner in dairy production placement was Henry Salzl of Eden Valley-Watkins FFA. The dairy production placement winner was Emily Brogan of St Charles FFA.
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