Allamakee County 4-H Dairy Judging teams compete at Iowa State Fair; Junior Team Two finishes in first place
First-place team finish in Junior division ... The Allamakee County Junior Team Two pictured above placed first in the Junior division of the State 4-H Dairy Judging Contest held at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines. Left to right: Coach Lars Sivesind, Ethan Palmer, Madalyn Palmer, Claire Opperman, Alaina Gebel, Coach Aaron Palmer. The team members are holding their ribbons for both their team and individual placewinnings in the contest. Submitted photo.
Allamakee County State 4-H Dairy Judging Contest participants and coaches ... Pictured above are the Allamakee County 4-H participants in the State 4-H Dairy Judging Contest held at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines. Left to right - Front row: Kiele Eberling, Dalton Ellickson, Claire Opperman, Kaylee Gibbs. Back row: Coach Lars Sivesind, Cayla Nolting, Michael Hagen, Ethan Palmer, Faith Palmer, Emma Palmer, Madalyn Palmer, Grace Howe, Alaina Gebel, Coach Aaron Palmer. Submitted photo.
Allamakee County 4-H had four different teams competing in the Dairy Judging Contest at the 2018 Iowa State Fair held August 9-19 in Des Moines. One of the two teams from Allamakee County competing in the Junior division of the contest topped all teams in that division.
In dairy judging, youth evaluate classes of dairy cows and heifers and then defend their placings through oral reasoning. Youth learn the dairy cow unified scorecard and major breakdowns, anatomy of the dairy cow, along with dairy judging terminology.
Allamakee County had 12 individual 4-H’ers taking part in the State 4-H Dairy Judging Contest held at the Iowa State Fair. They made up two teams in the Junior Division and two teams in the Senior Division.
The following Allamakee County youth participated: Senior members included Kaylee Gibbs, daughter of Chris and Kerri Gibbs of Waterville; Michael Hagen, son of Erik and Lisa Hagen of Waterville; Grace Howe, daughter of Shelly and the late Matt Howe of Waukon; Cayla Nolting, daughter of Chad and Cheryl Nolting of Waukon; Faith Palmer, daughter of John and Meghan Palmer of Waukon; and Madalyn Palmer, daughter of Eric and Stephanie Palmer of Waukon.
Junior participants were Kiele Eberling, daughter of Kevin and Donna Eberling of Postville; Dalton Ellickson, son of Lee and Chris Ellickson of Waukon; Alaina Gebel, daughter of Nate and Tami Gebel of Lansing; Claire Opperman, daughter of George and Amy Opperman of Waukon; Emma Palmer, daughter of Eric and Stephanie Palmer of Waukon; and Ethan Palmer, son of John and Meghan Palmer of Waukon. The Dairy Judging teams were coached by Aaron Palmer and Lars Sivesind of Waukon.
The senior contest involved 32 individuals and nine teams from across the state of Iowa. Allamakee County’s Senior Team One was made up of Kaylee Gibbs, Cayla Nolting, Faith Palmer and Madalyn Palmer. The team placed fourth overall and finished fifth in the Guernsey division, as well as placing sixth in Team Reasons, second in Milking Shorthorn and first in the Brown Swiss division. Individually, Gibbs finished 22nd overall and 12th in Brown Swiss. Nolting finished seventh individually overall and in Reasons, and she earned an eighth-place finish in Milking Shorthorn, sixth-place finish in Guernsey, and finished seventh in the Brown Swiss division. Faith Palmer placed 16th overall and 10th in the Ayrshire division. Madalyn Palmer placed 11th both overall and in the Milking Shorthorn division, as well as fourth in the Brown Swiss division.
Allamakee County Senior Team Two consisted of youth from both Winneshiek and Allamakee counties. Allamakee had two of the three participants for the team, Michael Hagen and Grace Howe. The team placed eighth overall and ninth in Team Reasons, as well as finishing seventh in Guernsey and fourth in the Brown Swiss division. The two individuals from Allamakee County placed as follows: Hagen finished 14th overall and placed second in Brown Swiss, and Howe placed 18th overall with a sixth-place finish in Brown Swiss and eighth in the Ayrshire division.
The Junior division of the contest involved 27 individuals and seven teams from across the state. Allamakee Junior Team Two, consisting of Alaina Gebel, Claire Opperman, Emma Palmer and Ethan Palmer, placed first overall and in Team Reasons.
That team also placed first in the Holstein, Jersey and Milking Shorthorn divisions, second in Guernsey, third in Brown Swiss, and fourth in the Ayrshire division. Team individual highlights included Gebel earning first place in the Holstein division, placing third in Brown Swiss, fourth Guernsey, second in Individual Reason and fourth overall. Opperman finished third in Milking Shorthorn, fourth in Holstein, sixth in Jersey, eighth in Guernsey, sixth in Reasons and third overall. Emma Palmer earned a first in the Jersey and Milking Shorthorn divisions, and she earned a sixth-place individual overall finish and a first-place finish in reasons. Ethan Palmer placed fifth in Guernsey, ninth in the Brown Swiss and Jersey divisions, 12th in Reasons and eighth overall.
Junior Team Allamakee/Scott, consisted of youth from both Scott and Allamakee counties. Kiele Eberling and Dalton Ellickson were Allamakee County’s representatives on that team of three. The team placed seventh overall and in Reasons, second in Brown Swiss and sixth in the Ayrshire division. Individually, Eberling placed second in Brown Swiss and 25th overall. Ellickson placed seventh in Milking Shorthorn, 11th in both the Jersey division and individually, 17th in Reasons and 20th overall.
