My American Experience
Mid-way through 2025, I had the opportunity to participate in an exchange programme within the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (CALS) at the University of Wisconsin (UW), Madison (USA). This semester abroad concluded my undergraduate study of a Bachelor of Agricultural Science at Lincoln University, with a specific focus on genetics and breeding.
Arriving in Madison, I was immediately welcomed into the University’s ‘Dairy Club’. This led to involvement in the UW Dairy Judging Team. Practice began almost immediately in preparation for our first competition in late September. As a team, we travelled to all regions within the state, visiting a selection of properties to judge classes of dairy cattle. Breeds included Holstein, Jersey, Ayrshire, Guernsey, Red and Whites, Milking Shorthorn and Brown Swiss. This experience was a major learning curve for me. Although I grew up on a dairy farm and worked in the dairy industry throughout both secondary and tertiary education, my experience of dairy judging in the US changed the way I viewed an animal and gave me a completely new perspective.
Throughout the semester I was mentored by two great coaches. These coaches showed me how to break each area of an animal down and analyse it more critically. This provided me with a structure and process for effectively judging and ranking the animals presented in each class of cattle. Here is the process they taught me:
1. CONFORMATION (40% weighting – comprised of 15% frame and 25% dairy strength):
a. Step back and evaluate the whole silhouette of each individual. This will give an indication of proportion, condition and strength/straightness over the topline, helping to determine the overall style, balance and dairyness of the animal.
b. Glancing from nose to tail, assess the blending of parts, angularity, width/depth/spring of rib, and the angle of hips, pins and thurls. Viewing animals from behind on an angle gives a good indication of the depth of chest and allows for a closer comparison between individuals.
2. FEET AND LEGS (20% weighting):
a. Next, look at mobility, legs and feet. Assess the length and direction of each step; animals should have a smooth and even stride. At a walk, rear feet should nearly replace the front feet.
b. Rear legs need to be straight, with a correctly set hock alongside short/strong pasterns with an upright angle. Feet needed to have a steep angle, deep heel and rounded closed toes.
3. UDDER (40% weighting):
a. In dairy cows specifically, udder traits were worth 40% of the evaluation. This heavy weighting was due to the suggestion of potential milk yield and udder longevity.
b. Key traits assessed included udder depth (in relation to the hock), the height/width/capacity of the rear udder, a defined udder cleft (associated with the strength of suspensory ligament), a smooth blending of the fore udder, and good teat shape/placement.
Alongside the challenge of correctly ranking classes of cattle, the expectation was that the reasons for placing animals in a particular order were recited to a group of judges. Competing at my first county fair was a big step up - judging 10 classes of dairy stock in the morning to then recite 5 sets of memorised reasons that afternoon. This was a challenge, especially since there was no talking involved for the entire day! Learning to judge dairy cattle with a professional eye was an amazing experience; I learned and improved a new skill, and formed connections with other young, passionate dairy breeders.
Mid-September approaching, the preparations for the annual World Dairy Expo (WDE) began to take shape. The opportunity to contribute to the organisation of WDE was another highlight of my time at UW-Madison. We had a team of approximately 50 students in the Dairy Club who worked to set up signage, barns, grounds and the showring to prepare for the biggest dairy show in the Northern Hemisphere. Throughout the week of WDE, I also got the chance to work on a ‘string’ for Heritage Holsteins, preparing/fitting 18 animals for the show. The week of WDE was definitely busy, but an unforgettable experience. Getting to see some of the most famous cow families and breeders in North America was also a bit of a novelty.
Following WDE, the UW-Dairy Club travelled to Toronto, Canada for the Royal Agricultural Show. While in Toronto, we visited a range of Canadian dairy farms including Quality Holsteins, Bosdale Farms, Karnview, and WalnutLawn. Seeing the application of technology across each of these large dairy operations was certainly impressive - the majority of the milking, feeding, and cleaning was robotic. The barns were predominantly free-stall, with show cows residing in tie-stall areas.
The knowledge each of these owner/operators were able to share with us about their cow families, referencing individual animals within the herd, was a major highlight. We discussed pedigrees and priority traits, going back generations to determine breeding decisions and why they were made. The attention to fine detail alongside the scale at which these systems were run was pretty unreal. These properties were immaculate, cows/animal health were prioritised at a commercial level, yet farmers still managed to get their superior stock ready/prepped for shows throughout the season.
Throughout the following months of my time abroad, I gave it my best effort to experience as much of the US as possible. I managed a trip to New York and attended the musical ‘Wicked’ on Broadway which was a major highlight! Next was Nashville, Tennessee, where we experienced the ‘heart’ of country music in the US. We made it to Las Vegas, Nevada to attend the National Finals Rodeo (NFR), watching the best of the best in the rodeo world! In the final weeks of my stay, the freezing temperatures of Madison (-40 degrees Celsius) drove us east through Minnesota, across South Dakota and on to see Mt Rushmore and visit the incredible Badlands National Park. During my semester living the ‘American Experience’, I managed to visit and explore a total 14 different states.
What an adventure!
