By Verla Peichl
for The Beacon

Five Farmerbud participants waited patiently for the event to begin. L-R; Nora Polster, age 5, with Chewy/ Eli Polster, age 5, with Snowy, Ella Bohnhoff, age 8, with Lilly, Olivia Polster, age 6, with Smiles and Charli Jensen, age 7, with Buddy. – Photos by Verla Peichl

The Sheboygan County Holstein Association recently held their Farmerbud Showmanship Event at the Sheboygan County Fair.  It was well attended and there were three queens on deck who handed out tokens for free ice cream at the Red Barn at the county fair.

The three queens who were easily seen were Alice in Dairyland Abigail Martin, Fairest of the Fair Attendant Lyndsay Fenner and Sheboygan County Fairest of the Fair Sarah Deheck.

The event was filled with laughter and answers to the queens questions with answers such as,  “I named my calf Chewy because she likes to chew on me,”  Or, “She just seemed to fit to the name Snowy”.

The youth are always eager to tell how they prepared their calf for the show ring and when asked what they feed their calf the answers are sometimes quite interesting and amusing.  All of these answers are entertaining to the crowd but one thing is evident, this is truly the future of the dairy industry in Wisconsin.  They may not know all the correct answers today but these youth are willing to learn how to raise cattle and become a part of the agriculture industry.

Farmerbud Showmanship is an opportunity for youth younger than nine years of age to begin showing dairy cattle in a fun and supportive environment.  The groups are divided into youth 4 years of age as of January 1st, youth 5 & 6 years of age as of January 1st and youth 7 & 8 years of age as of January 1st. The calves are young and should be born after June 1st .

The Sheboygan County Junior Holstein Association strives to increase knowledge and provide opportunities to you by involvement through a registered Holstein project.  As in the 4-H program there are multiple opportunities to match non – farm youth with farm owners to participate and do it in a fun and yet educational way. For more information on how to join in the fun, contact the Sheboygan County Holstein Association.