World Dairy Expo

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The World Dairy Expo, or World Dairy Exposition, is a cattle show held annually at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It is held the first week of every October and has been going on since 1967. Many consider it the largest and most important Dairy Cattle Show on North American soil.

1 Themes
2 Cattle Show
3 Trade Show
4 Youth Contests
5 References
6 External link

[edit] Themes

One of the unusual aspects about the World Dairy Expo that makes it different from the many other Dairy Cattle shows is its themes. Ever since the late 1980's every Expo has had its own theme. Every year the showring is decorated with two backdrops that correspond to that years theme. Themes have ranged from the simple to the extravagant, like the "Excitement is Building" theme which had a huge construction like backdrop. The World Dairy Expo is known for having colored shavings in the showring. The shavings have been died many different colors including teal, bright red, and green. Last year's theme was "Dairy Central", which was a train station theme. The theme for 2007 is "Bright Lights, Big Show."

[edit] Cattle Show

Hundreds of dairy cattle from all over the United States come to the show. Breeders from Canada and Mexico would come to compete before the borders closed. All seven nationally recognized breeds (Brown Swiss, Holstein, Red Holstein, Guernsey, Jersey, Milking Shorthorn, and Ayrshire) have a show. After a grand champion from each breed is selected, a final show is held to determine the best two cows in the show. This is held on the last day of the World Dairy Expo (Saturday) and is often referred to as the main event. The show starts out with an introduction of each cow and leadsman (person at the end of the halter) listing both of their achievements. After this is done the cows are judged by all of the breed judges from the past week. After they decide on a cow, the Supreme Champion and Reserve Supreme Champion is announced.

[edit] Trade Show

The World Dairy expo is also home to an enormous trade show from companies that come from all over the world. The trade show is so large because the World Dairy Expo attracts over 65,000 attendees. Companies like Toyota, John Deere, Case IH, Chevrolet, Bayer, Semex, American Breeders Service, and many more make the trip to Madison every year.

Another part of the trade show is the numerous educational seminars that are given. Some of these are given by successful farmers, who explain how they did things.

[edit] Youth Contests

The World Dairy Expo offers many different conferences for the youth in the dairy industry as well. There is a judging contest in which teams an individuals from high school Future Farmers of America chapters and 4-H programs can compete in as well as a division for Collegiate level teams. There is also a separate cattle show for contestants who are college age or younger. This cattle show is separate from the main show but has all of the same stuff. Supreme and Reserve Supreme champions are named the same way as the older contestants. Winning the junior show is almost as prestigious as winning the main one.

[edit] References

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This article has been tagged since March 2007.