Judging in the sixth-annual World Dairy Expo Championship Dairy Product Contest will be at the Madison Area Technical College Culinary Arts School today and Thursday.

The national contest, which is sponsored by the Wisconsin Dairy Products Association, features 420 dairy products, up from 355 last year.

Brad Legreid, executive director of the WDPA, said the contest's popularity with dairy product makers made it the third-largest contest of its kind in the U.S. He attributed the contest's growth to its inclusion of categories like sherbet and sour cream, which are not usually found at dairy contests.

Today, judges will determine best in class for the cheese and butter categories. Yogurt, cottage cheese, sour cream, fluid milk, buttermilk, dairy-based dips and whipping cream will be judged Thursday. Ice cream, sherbet, dried whey and other categories were judged Tuesday at UW-Madison's Babcock Hall.

While the judging is not open to the public due to space limitations, Legreid said the public would be invited to an auction of fresh samples of the winning entries at the World Dairy Expo in Madison Sept. 30. Part of the proceeds from the auction will go to fund an annual scholarship for students pursuing a dairy industry career.

The dairy products used for this week's judging will be donated to Second Harvest, the Ronald McDonald House and the MATC Culinary Arts School for educational purposes.

— Nick Heynen