Posted: 09.22.2010

More than 150 youth on 41 teams competed in the 4-H, FFA, Collegiate and Two-Year College contests at the 47th All-American Dairy Show in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania - but Wisconsin came home with top honors in the 4-H division.

The Wisconsin 4-H team of four Dane county youth topped 13 other teams from across the country.  The Wisconsin 4-H team - coached by Eric Olstad and Mitch Breunig, included Abbey Wethal, Sara Harn, Cassie Endres and Lizi Endres.  Amy Cooper was an alternate that traveled as well.

The team was evaluated not only on their dairy judging ability - but also how they presented their oral rationale on their placings and linear evaluations. "We focus on preparing the kids to give their oral reasons," Breunig tells Pam Jahnke, "We think that's a life skill that they'll use in college or in their career."  The effort obviously paid off.

Breunig and Olstad have been coaching the team, along with Bill Hageman and Chad Wethal, since about 1995.  This is their sixth time coaching at nationals. Their normal travel plans to the show in Harrisburg include flying into Baltimore and touring the kids around the Washington, D.C. area before heading to Harrisburg.

Breunig said the Harrisburg show looked fairly full as far as dairy entries.  "That show has a lot of colored cattle," he says, "and their show barn is amazing.  It's 27 acres under one roof!  You don't have to go outside to wash your animals - everything's under a roof."

The other unique aspect of the Wisconsin team versus their competitors was it's make-up.  Breunig says that most teams they competed against were the best in that state - be it Maryland, Pennsylvania or New York.  The Wisconsin team was made up of essentially two 4-H clubs in Dane county - one from Waunakee, the other in the Rutland/Brooklyn area.  "I think that really speaks to the caliber of kids we've got around here," Breunig noted.

The UW-Madison dairy judging team also did well - placing 4th from a field of 14 teams.  The University of Minnesota won the overall collegiate category.

Many of the teams that went head-to-head in Harrisburg will meet again at center ring for more judging during World Dairy Expo.  The University of Minnesota coach said he believed the Harrisburg competition will put his team in a better mindframe for their visit to Madison.

The 47th All-American Dairy Show is billed as the world’s largest dairy show and runs through Thursday at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex and Expo Center in Harrisburg.

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