Delaware County Dairy Judging Teams Compete at State Fair

Sixteen 4-H youth from Delaware County recently competed well in the State 4-H Dairy Judging Contest, held during the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines. Three Dubuque County and one Jones County youth were on teams as well. Seniors earned the top 6 individual Reasons scores, as well as 7 of the top ten overall. Juniors earned the top 4 Reasons scores, with 7 in the top ten Reasons.

Senior Team 1 earned the top spot in 6 of the 8 categories, handily winning the contest by 20 points. They will now represent Iowa in the National 4-H Dairy Judging Contest in Madison, WI. Members include Ford Domeyer, Caden Kremer, Aden Kruse and Ty Hoeger. The team ranked 1st Overall, Reasons, Brown Swiss, Guernsey, Holstein, Jersey, 2nd Milking Shorthorn and 5th Ayrshire.

Individually placing in the top ten: Ford Domeyer (placed in the top ten of every category) earned 1st Overall, 2nd Reasons and Jersey, 3rd Guernsey, 4th Holstein, 6th Milking Shorthorn, 7th Brown Swiss and 9th Ayrshire. Caden Kremer earned 2nd Overall, 1st Brown Swiss, Holstein, 3rd Jersey and 5th Guernsey. Aden Kruse earned 4th Overall and Jersey, 3rd Reasons, 5th Brown Swiss, 6th Guernsey, 8th Holstein and 9th Milking Shorthorn. Ty Hoeger placed 10th Overall and Brown Swiss, 1st Guernsey, 6th Reasons and 7th Jersey.

Senior Team 2 placed 4th Overall. Team members are Braden Ronnebaum, Madalynn Arnold, Ana Rauen (Dubuque Co) and Ellie Simon (Dubuque Co). The team ranked 2nd Guernsey, 3rd Brown Swiss, 4th Overall and Ayrshire, 5th Reasons, Jersey and Milking Shorthorn. Individually placing in the top ten: Braden Ronnebaum 5th Overall and Reasons, 4th Guernsey and Ayrshire, 6th Brown Swiss and 8th Jersey. Madalynn Arnold earned 9th Overall, 4th Brown Swiss, 6th Holstein and 10th Ayrshire.

Senior Team 3 placed 6th Overall. Team members are Cael Cannon, Chase Cannon, Tate Shemak, Karl Zumbach. They ranked 3rd in Guernsey and 5th Holstein. Individually, Cael Cannon placed 8th Guernsey and Karl Zumbach earned 5th Milking Shorthorn. Bianka Ronnebaum already competed at the National Contest, but competed with a Winneshiek County team her final year for an individual challenge. Bianka earned the top Reasons score. Additionally ,she was 2nd Guernsey and Milking Shorthorn, 3rd Overall, 6th Jersey, and 7th Ayrshire. The Winneshiek team she was on earned 1st Ayrshire, Milking Shorthorn, 2nd Overall, Reasons, Holstein, 3rd Jersey and 4th Brown Swiss.

Delaware County Junior members earned 5 of the top 10 Reasons scores. Junior Team 1 members are Cooper Schulte, Adley Rahe (Jones Co), Carson Rauen (Dubuque Co) and Tyler Arnold. They earned 1st Overall, Reasons and Guernsey, Jersey, Milking Shorthorn, 2nd Holstein, Brown Swiss and 3rd Ayrshire.

Individually placing in the top ten: Cooper Schulte 1st Overall, Reasons, Guernsey, Brown Swiss, 2nd Jersey, Guernsey, 3rd Holstein and 5th Milking Shorthorn. Adley Rahe 1st Guernsey, Jersey, 2nd Reasons, 3rd Overall, 4th Ayrshire, 7th Milking Shorthorn and 9th Brown Swiss. Carson Rauen 1st Milking Shorthorn, 3rd Reasons, Guernsey, 4th Overall, 5th Jersey and Ayrshire and 10th Holstein. Tyler Arnold 4th Reasons and Holsteins, 7th Ayrshire, 9th Guernsey and 10th Brown Swiss.

Junior Team 2 earned 4th place Overall. Team members include Caden Cannon, Will Zumbach and Anna Zumbach. They earned 2nd Guernsey and Reasons, 4th Holstein, Jersey, 5th Milking Shorthorn and Ayrshire. Individually placing in the top ten: Caden Cannon 5th Guernsey, 7th Reasons, 9th Jersey and 10th Overall. Will Zumbach 6th Reasons, 8th. Anna Zumbach 7th Guernsey, 8th Ayrshire, 9th Reasons and 10th Milking Shorthorn.

There were six teams with 26 individuals competing in the Senior Division. There were 6 teams with 22 individuals competing in the Junior Division this year. Each contest participant receives a judging notepad and pen donated by Kunde Jersey Farm of Manchester.

The coaches of the Delaware County Dairy Judging teams are Kaleb Kruse, Jeannie Domeyer and Mason Kruse. The Dubuque/Jones County kids are coached by Jeff Hammerand. They appreciate the support of parents, volunteers and the dairy producers who let them practice at their farms in preparation for the state contest. This year, teams judged animals at the farms of Tom and Sara Kruse-KCCK Genetics, Knapp Genetics and Kunde Jersey Farm, in addition to practicing at the Delaware County Fairgrounds during the DelCo Classic. The kids also competed at the Mississippi Valley Fair judging contest in late July.

article submitted by Jennifer Zumbach

photos courtesy of Jill Hoeger and Julie Arnold:
Senior 1 – Caden Kremer, Kaleb Kruse, Ty Hoeger, Mason Kruse, Ford Domeyer, Jeannie Domeyer and Aden Kruse.
Senior 2- Ellie Simon, Kaleb Kruse, Madalynn Arnold, Mason Kruse, Braden Ronnebaum, Jeannie Domeyer and Ana Rauen.
Senior 3- Tate Shemak, Kaleb Kruse, Cael Cannon, Mason Kruse, Karl Zumbach, Jeannie Domeyer and Chase Cannon.
Junior 1- Cooper Schulte, Kaleb Kruse, Carson Rauen, Mason Kruse, Tyler Arnold and Jeannie Domeyer. Absent Adley Rahe.
Junior 2- Will Zumbach, Kaleb Kruse, Anna Zumbach, Mason Kruse, Caden Cannon and Jeannie Domeyer.
All Teams-Delaware- Front Row (L to R): Ellie Simon, Ana Rauen, Madalynn Arnold, Bianka Ronnebaum, Caden Kremer.
Second Row: Adley Rahe, Cael Cannon, Ford Domeyer, Ty Hoeger, Braden Ronnebaum. Third Row: Anna Zumbach, Will
Zumbach, Chase Cannon, Tate Shemak, Cooper Schulte. Back Row: Aden Kruse, Tyler Arnold, Carson Rauen, Karl Zumbach, Caden
Cannon.