MADISON CO., N.Y. — On Saturday, March 11, 2017, Madison County 4-H Members participated in the District 4-H Dairy Bowl Competition at South Lewis High School in Turin, NY. The competition had a total of 17 teams from Madison, Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, and Oneida County 4-H Youth Development Programs. Madison County 4-H had one novice team, one junior team, and one senior team compete.

4-H Dairy Bowl provides youth a unique and fun opportunity to develop dairy industry knowledge. The contest is made up of questions pertaining to dairy topics ranging from dairy cattle health to farm business management. Pairs of four-person or three-person teams competed against each other responding to questions asked by a contest moderator. Each team was given credit for correct answers and the team with the most amount of points at the end of the contest was named the winner. Organizers of the contest would like to congratulate all the 4-H members for a great competition. They would also like to express a big “Thank You” to all the volunteers, families, and friends that took the time to help 4-H Youth.

In the team divisions, Madison County had the first place Novice Team with team members, Julianna Tomcho, Logan Mills, and Eliza McCaulley. The team will go on to represent the District at the New York State Novice Dairy Bowl Competition at the New York State Fair on August 24, 2017. The Junior Team, comprised with members Andrew Curtis-Szalach, Kim Marris, Lilly Mills, and Joshua Tomcho, and the Senior Team comprised with members Dylan Anderson, Kayla McCaulley, and Erin Curtis-Szalach, both placed third in their respective divisions.

Points were also given to individuals for answering questions correctly and were placed amongst other youth in their respective divisions. In the Novice Division, Eliza McCaulley placed 5^th, and after a tie-breaker round, Logan Mills placed 4^th and Julianna Tomcho placed 3^rd. In the Junior Division, Andrew Curtis-Szalach placed 8^th. Lastly, in the Senior Division, Kayla McCaulley placed 9^th and Dylan Anderson placed 2^nd. Dylan will go on to the New York State Dairy Bowl Competition on April 29, 2017 at Cornell University for the second consecutive year.

We are so proud of the young talent demonstrated and the number of dairy industry enthusiasts we had participate. The 4-H Youth Development Program provides innovative programs and opportunities for youth ages 5-19 to participate in.

4-H members learn valuable skills, have fun, make new friends, solve problems, earn awards, practice citizenship, develop leadership abilities, and make a difference in their community.

For more information about the 4-H Youth Development Program in Madison County, contact the 4-H Office at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Madison County at 315-684-3001 or visit us at www.madisoncountycce.org.

–CCE Madison County

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