Allamakee County Dairy Royalty to participate in Iowa Dairy Princess event this Thursday


Both will be at Iowa Dairy Princess event this Thursday ... Allamakee County Dairy Princess Faith Palmer (right) and Alternate Dairy Princess Kaylee Gibbs (left) will both be in attendance at this year’s Iowa State Dairy Princess event being held this Thursday, August 6 at the Courtyard by Marriott in Ankeny. Having been crowned the State of Iowa Alternate Dairy Princess at last year’s event, Palmer will relinquish that crown and all of its accompanying duties to this year’s newly crowned royalty, while Gibbs will be representing Allamakee County in this year’s Iowa Dairy Princess competition. Photo by Paula Enyart.

Eight young women involved within the Iowa dairy community will compete to win the title of 67th Iowa Dairy Princess this Thursday, August 6 at 2 p.m. at the Courtyard by Marriott in Ankeny. The Iowa Dairy Princess and her alternate are charged with helping consumers learn more about dairy products and the farm families who tend the farms and cows that provide them.

Allamakee County will be well represented at this year’s event, as both Allamakee County Dairy Princess Faith Palmer and Allamakee County Alternate Dairy Princess Kaylee Gibbs will be in attendance. Both were crowned in their respective roles last year, but with the COVID-19 pandemic forcing cancellation of this year’s Allamakee County Dairy Banquet, both have also agreed to continue to serve in those roles for another year.

Palmer’s attendance at this year’s state event will mark the end of her reign as the 2019-2020 State of Iowa Alternate Dairy Princess, an honor she was chosen for at last year’s Iowa Dairy Princess event. Gibbs will be representing Allamakee County in this year’s Iowa State Dairy Princess competition for a 2020-2021 reign.

This year’s contestants in that Iowa State Dairy Princess competition include:

• Brooke Courtney, 18, daughter of Scott and Amy Courtney of Ridgeway, representing Winneshiek County;
• Amber Engelken, 18, daughter of Tom and Cherrie Engelken of Earlville, representing the Iowa Holstein Association;
• Kaylee Gibbs, 17, daughter of Chris and Kerri Gibbs of Waterville, representing Allamakee County;
• Megan Gronau, 21, daughter of Todd and Karen Gronau of Durango, representing Dubuque County;
• Meghan Hettinga, 20, daughter of Jason and Mary Hettinga of Orange City, representing the Iowa Jersey Cattle Club;
• Abby Klostermann, 18, daughter of Chris and Michelle Klostermann of Dyersville, representing Delaware County;
• Raegan Kime, 17, daughter of Dan and Annette Kime of Waucoma, representing the Iowa Guernsey Breeders Association;
• Megan Kueker, 18, daughter of Gary and Karol Kueker of West Union, representing Fayette County.

The princess and alternate are chosen on the basis of their knowledge and enthusiasm about dairy, personality and communication ability during judging which begins Wednesday, August 5. Both the princess and alternate will receive scholarships from Midwest Dairy, which sponsors the contest and princess program on behalf of Iowa’s dairy farmers.

The outgoing 2019-2020 Iowa Dairy Princess is Julie Hammerand, daughter of Jerry and Lois Hammerand of Sherrill, and the Alternate Princess is Faith Palmer, daughter of John and Meghan Palmer of Waukon. Their reigns will be completed at the end of this month, and the new Princess and Alternate will begin their duties September 1.