CHIPPEWA FALLS, Wis. — Chippewa Falls FFA won by the narrowest of margins at the 2021 Chippewa County FFA Dairy Judging Contest held on October 20 at the John and Dawn Herrick farm near Boyd. Only three points separated first place Chi-Hi from second place Bloomer and third place Cadott. 119 students participated representing FFA Chapters from Bloomer, Cadott, Chippewa Falls, Cornell, and Stanley-Boyd.
FFA Chapters in Chippewa County were invited to bring students with the top four scoring individuals from each chapter making up the team score. Each student judged four classes of dairy cattle and answered ten type analysis questions on one of the dairy cow classes. Students also participated in a dairy knowledge test and cheese flavor identification as part of the contest.
Chi-Hi’s team of Cayden Blodgett, David Terhark, Mitchell Romandstad, and Max Stary racked up an average winning score of 219.75 out of 253 potential points which was enough to squeak by the Bloomer team of Alexandriah Zakrzcwicz, Stella Nelson, Alex Blum, and Emilee Brenner who rallied a team score of 217.5. The Cadott team of Abigail Goettl, Trenten Schimmel, Jaycee Stephens, and Jake Rowe finished a very close third with 216.75 points.
Just three points separated the top six scoring individuals. Cayden Blodgett of Chi-Hi was the top scoring individual, tallying 222 points. Three students, Marcella Boehm of Cornell, David Terhark from Chi-Hi, and Abigail Goettl of Cadott, tied for second with 220 points. Alexandriah Zakrzcwicz and Stella Nelson of Bloomer and Mitch Romandstad of Chi-Hi tied for third with 219 points. Other top scorers were Max Stary, Chi-Hi 218 points, Alex Blum, Bloomer 218 points, Trenten Schimmel, Cadott 217 points, Nick Bessett, Chi-Hi, and Jaycee Stephens and Jake Rowe of Cadott all with 215 points.
Jason Benson of Lymett Farm was the official judge for this year’s contest. Chippewa County DHIA Foundation with Chippewa County 4-H Leaders, Inc. sponsored team and individual awards. Yellowstone Cheese furnished cheese for the contest. Chippewa County Dairy Promoters provided milk and cookies for the event.
— University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension Chippewa County