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Cross Country: Dairy Expo truly a worldwide event
It's called the biggest dairy event in the world. And it no doubt is.
The name World Dairy Expo describes it well because it is truly a worldwide event. And for five days, Tuesday through Saturday, nearly 70,000 people from dozens of countries, 2,500 dairy cattle from North America and 1,600 commercial exhibits will be centered at the Alliant Energy Center.
When the World Food and Agricultural Exposition opened its doors for the first time in 1967, it was anything but famous or worldly. The focus was on food, consumers and high-priced entertainment; dairy cattle and dairy equipment were but a sidelight.
Times were tough for the first few years of the not-so-big show, and it ran out of money. Fortunately Bev Craig, a hog buyer at Oscar Mayer, and Wilbur Renk, a Sun Prairie seed corn grower, were secretary-treasurer and president of the show, and they went about gathering more money.
Six people -- Renk; Craig; Duane Bowman of Madison Dairy; Les Helgeson, Footville Harvestore dealer; and dairy farmers Allan Hetts of Fort Atkinson and Norm Magnussen of Lake Mills, came to the front and co-signed a $30,000 loan from the Bank of Sun Prairie to keep the show alive. (The loan was never used.)
With help from UW-Madison, the Madison Chamber of Commerce, the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture and a host of dairy companies and $50,000 from the state, the event stayed alive.
The far-thinking (and a bit lucky) Board of Directors, mostly cow-milking dairy folks, saw dairying as the potential attraction at the sagging show. And why not? Wisconsin was already America's Dairyland.
The luck?
The big national dairy show at the time was the Waterloo (Iowa) Dairy Cattle Congress. But that long and revered event had fallen on hard times. The eager group headed by Craig brought the show to Madison, and World Dairy has been the name of the show since 1970 and has been a dairy event ever since.
The cows come to World Dairy Expo because it is the place to be and the place to see and be seen.
That's why the Donaldson family of Abbotsford, British Colombia, Canada, drove 40 hours and some 2,100 miles to get to Madison with their eight head of Brown Swiss cattle from Bradner Farms.
"We left at about 4 p.m. Wednesday and got to Madison late Friday night," Sarah Donaldson says. "That included four stops for milking and rest."
Robert and Patricia Donaldson and their family milk 900 cows on their Canadian dairy. "Our milk is organic, so we get a good price," daughter Sarah says. "Organic milk is in very short supply in our area."
What price? Sarah and her sister Pamela weren't sure -- they produce and sell in liters -- but their dad, Robert, came on the scene and figured it out. "It's about $45 a hundred," he said. (Note: A Wisconsin non-organic farmer receives about $19 per hundred pounds. Organic milk is about $23.)
The Donaldsons also raise a million chickens. Some lay eggs, some are broilers, and some are specialty birds they ship to Hong Kong.
The family attended Dairy Expo last year to take a look at the event they'd heard so much about. "We couldn't bring our cattle because of the embargo (due to hoof and mouth disease)," Patricia says. "But we're here today and plan to enjoy the 10-day trip."
There are 174 Canadian cattle here this year as compared to none since 2003 when the hoof and mouth scare closed the U.S. border to cows from Canada. The U.S. exhibitors are well aware of those 174 animals -- they will undoubtedly up the competition.
It should be noted that all the cattle coming to Dairy Expo must pass a host of health and breed regulations and must have the papers to prove it. That's why the first stop at Dairy Expo is at the Dairy Cattle office where the papers are inspected.
Julien Thomia is a student at the University of Laval in France, but is spending some time working at Ferme Pierre Boulet at Monmagny, Quebec. He is part of a five-member crew taking care of 13 animals that made a 30-hour trip to the Dairy Expo.
Like other dairy exhibitors making long trips, the Boulet group had to milk the cows along the way. Thomia said they used a one-unit milker that that plugged into electricity at a gas station.
The Boulet operation consists of 700 cows scattered at numerous sites in Quebec. Cynthia Martineau, Pierre Boulet's 22-year-old niece, has 50 cows on her farm. She explains that Boulet is a well-known dairy cattle sales manager and auctioneer.
Thomia says that this is a top-flight dairy herd. "In fact, we have two of the three Excellent 97 cows in Canada. Maybe we can win the Holstein championship at Expo," he says.
Not all the cattle that come to Dairy Expo hail from big herds.
Gary Nett of New Holstein brought one Jersey spring yearling to the show. "I sold my dairy herd 10 years ago," Nett says. "I now own five cows that are on a neighboring farm, and I work for Krause Custom Harvesters at Elkhart Lake. But I still wouldnt miss coming to Dairy Expo."
Evan Bremberger, a senior at Arrowhead High in Hartland, was unloading his two Jerseys -- a 5-year-old cow and a March 1907 spring yearling from a trailer. He keeps his Jerseys at his uncle's farm near Watertown.
Nett and Bremberger's operations are small in size compared to some of the exhibitors at Expo. Nor do they have lots of cattle, extra help, big trucks and long histories of championships in the show ring. But they do have the urge to compete at the highest level, love their dairy animals and spend much time, effort and money to bring their dairy cattle to the big show.
There is an entry fee of $25-$30 for the Dairy Expo, and first place awards range from $50 to $200 depending on breed and age. Rest assured, no one brings a calf or cow to Dairy Expo for the prize money.It's all about the chance for beginners to mingle with veterans, for old-timers to share memories and newcomers to make them, to see and learn for another day. And certainly there's a lot of fun and glory.
Admission is $7. Hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. except thatcattle shows and sales often run well into the night. It's great fun. See you there!
John Oncken is owner of Oncken Communications, a Madison-based agricultural information and consulting company. He can be reached at 608-222-0624 or e-mail jfodairy@chorus.net.
John Oncken
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Cow, father and son: 2-year-old Suton Paulson of Juneau helps his dad lead their cow to the barn at the World Dairy Expo.
