BURLINGTON, Vt. — The Vermont 4-H Dairy Quiz Bowl Team finished third at the 2022 North American Invitational 4-H Dairy Quiz Bowl, held Nov. 4-5 at the North American International Livestock Exposition in Louisville, Kentucky.
Representing Vermont were Liviya Russo, Lunenburg; Emma Seward, East Wallingford; Rose Tarbell, Middletown Springs; and Lorryn Trujillo, North Clarendon. They were accompanied by Judith Vaughan, Newbury, their head coach, who was assisted by Stacy Bowen, North Clarendon.
The two-day event included a written test and a double-elimination contest of buzzer-round questions, covering topics such as dairy breeds, calf raising, lactation, milk production and marketing, genetics, reproduction, animal diseases, nutrition, crops, farm management and important dairy industry dates and people. Additional activities were mixer games, a pizza meet and greet and an awards banquet at the conclusion of the event.
According to Vaughan, “Our Vermont girls really stood out! The officials cited them as the most colorful team, sparked by their sharp-looking outfits, lively personalities and impressive knowledge of all things dairy. As a result of their contagious team spirit, they were selected to lead the 4-H pledge at the awards dinner.”
In between study sessions, the team visited Churchill Downs and dined at Guy Fieri’s Smokehouse, both in Louisville. They also visited the show barns to watch fellow Vermonters exhibiting their dairy animals and had time to shop at the North American Country Store next to the show arena.
The team was selected at the State 4-H Dairy Quiz Bowl contest held at the University of Vermont (UVM) in March. Subsequently, practices were held at least twice monthly with team members putting in hours of extra study at home.
Additionally, they took part in fundraising efforts to help cover the cost of the trip, which was funded in part by the State 4-H Dairy Committee. Each team member also received a K. Stewart Gibson Award, given in honor of a former UVM Extension dairy specialist.
Leading up to the Kentucky contest, the team competed at other dairy quiz bowl events. In September they captured first place in the New England 4-H Dairy Quiz Bowl Contest, held at the Eastern States Exposition, and the following month competed in the New England Holstein Quiz Bowl contest.
To learn more about the UVM Extension 4-H dairy program, contact Wendy Sorrell at (802) 651-8343, ext. 513.
–UVM Extension