‘Superbowl of the Dairy Industry’: Cows Compete at Wisconsin Dairy Expo

By Sarah Lehr

Fans whirred as Laura Holtzinger showed off half a dozen jersey cows, which were resting in a tent at the World Dairy Expo in Madison.

“They’re shiny because we put baby oil on them,” she explained. “Like people in (a) muscle contest or something,”

Holtzinger is co-owner of a cattle breeding business called Big Time Genetics. Some of her cows traveled from River Falls for this week’s competition.

But not every member of the herd got to come. A Holstein named Fahrenheit was among those left behind.

Fahrenheit has won before, but she’s gotten a “little chunky,” Holtzinger said.

“Basically, it’s like a beauty pageant,” Holtzinger said. “And so, yeah, like athletes, they need to be in good shape.”

The World Dairy Expo drew tens of thousands of people from across the globe to the Alliant Energy Center this week. It also drew thousands of cows more than 2,600 dairy animals were housed at this year’s expo, an event spokesperson said.

The annual trade show involves networking, sales from vendors and presentations on the latest agricultural techniques.

Like ‘Miss America pageants’ for North America’s best dairy cows

It also includes what Jeannie Bishop describes as “Miss America pageants” but for “North America’s best dairy cows.”

Throughout the week, cows are paraded through a colosseum, as judges decide which cow is the best in its breed. Occasionally, workers in red shirts join the cows and their handlers on the stage floor to discretely clean up messes with pooper-scoopers attached to long handles. The winning cows get purple ribbons.

This year’s competitors included several Holstein and Brown Swiss cows from Bishop’s family farm in Watertown.

She says judges scope out cows for very specific characteristics.

“They like tall, long cows with well-attached udders,” Bishop said. “They definitely have a presence to them that’s hard to describe, but a presence and a confidence.”