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The Gopher Dairy Club
The Showbox
Reporter Cassie Olson
2014 Spring Edition
Meet the 2014-2015 Executive Team
In This Issue:
Meet the
Executive Team
Page 1
Minnesota Royal
2014
Page 1
Kelsey Mussman
Owatonna, MN
President
Nick Reps
Utica, MN
Vice President
Rebecca Groos
Howard Lake, MN
Treasurer
Michael Schmitt
Rice, MN
Secretary
Cassie Olson
Black River Falls, WI
Reporter
Andrew Hetke
Ladysmith, WI
Officer at Large
Great Success at
Regional ADSA
Page 2
State FFA Dairy
Judging Contest
Recap
Page 2
Annual Club
Banquet Deemed
a Success
Page 3
Dates to
Remember
Page 4
Minnesota Royal 2014- A Winning Event
Gopher Dairy Club was very excited to
have a successful showing in this year’s
Minnesota Royal activities.
Seniors Craig Betcher and
Kelsey Petit represented the
club throughout the week as
royalty candidates. The club
actively participated in and
had excellent results in skits,
milkmaid contest, animal
calling, ag olympics, The
Royal Run and stock the trailer
events.
On Thursday evening, members attended a
long-time favorite event: the Johnny Holmes
Band concert. The week’s cumulative successes came together on
Monday evening, when it was
announced that Gopher Dairy
Club placed second among St.
Paul Campus organizations and
Greeks!
Congratulations to all of our
members on a very succesfful
2014 MN Royal!
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Gopher Dairy Club Well-Represented at 2014 Regional ADSA-SAD
By Wyatt Smith, Regional ADSA Co-Chairperson
The Buckeye Dairy Club welcomed area schools to Ohio
State University for the 2014 Midwest Regional American Dairy Science Association - Student Affiliate Division
Conference. This year’s conference was held in Columbus
from January 31st to February 2nd. Over 50 members of the
Gopher Dairy Club represented the University of Minnesota at the annual conference.
Saturday morning and early afternoon consisted of educational seminars at Ohio State University’s campus. Students
were broken into small groups and were rotated between
breakout sessions. In these sessions, colligates learned about
the history of Select Sires Inc., positive social media coverage, mastitis management, genomics from the American
Jersey Cattle Association, graduate school versus entering
the industry right out of college, and a presentation of specialty ice cream – value added products.
events.
At the banquet on Saturday night, the Gopher Dairy Club
received recognition for our yearbook. The Topline received
top honors and second place for our online website. In addition, the University of Minnesota’s very own Kelsey Mussman was elected to serve as the Midwest Region Secretary –
Treasurer. The night was ended with a fun dance and social
The members of the Gopher Dairy Club returned to the
St. Paul campus with new knowledge and many new connections. We thank the Ohio State University for hosting
a great conference and we as a club look forward to next
year’s Regional ADSA-SAD to be held in Wisconsin Dells,
WI hosted by the University of Wisconsin – Platteville.
State FFA Dairy Judging Contest
It is always a sure sign of spring when St. Paul Campus becomes a sea of blue corduroy jackets during the annual state
FFA convention. With this comes the responsibility of planning and hosting the FFA State Dairy Judging contest. The
incredible amount of help from Gopher
Dairy Club members made for another successful contest. The contest was held April
28, 2014 at the Lee & Rose Warner Coliseum on the Minnesota State Fairgrounds
with nearly 220 participants and 54 teams.
As a team, participants answered questions
about dairy cattle and filled out worksheets
based on DHIA records. Individually contestants then judged two classes of heifers and four classes
of cows. Additionally, participants rank a sire selection class
and placed a pedigree class. Members then have to give two
sets of reasons. Winning the contest was the team from
Caledonia, who will represent Minnesota at the National
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FFA Convention held in October. Second and third went to
Norwood-Young America and Lewiston-Altura respectively.
Individually the top five individuals were Aaron Houdek of
Caledonia placing first, followed by Simon Johnson of KMS,
Jacob Hornberg of Winona, Jennifer Oelfke
of Norwood-Young America, and Marcus
Irrthum of Kenyon-Wanamingo. Thank you to
Doug Petzel and Tyler Otte for officiating the
contest.
The contest went very smoothly thanks to the
tremendous participation by the GDC club
members before, during, and after the contest.
Thanks to all that helped especially in transporting cattle to and from the coliseum. A special thank
you to my co-chair Nick Reps for all of his hard work and
dedication into helping put on yet another great contest.
We look forward to many more successful contests in the
future.
Annual Club Banquet Deemed a Success
By Greta Tank, Club Banquet Co-Chairperson
The 30th Annual University of Minnesota Gopher Dairy
Club Recognition Banquet was held on February 23, 2014
and brought together more than 200 students, parents,
alumni, faculty and those in the dairy industry to celebrate
the achievements of members. The banquet was held at the
Ramada Plaza Hotel in Minneapolis and showcased club
events and achievements over the past year.
We were pleased to have a welcome from Dr. Mike White,
Head of the Department of Animal Science, and remarks
from Dr. Brian Buhr, Interim Dean, College of Food, Agriculture and Natural Resource Sciences. MarJenna McWilliam, the 60th Princess Kay of the Milky Way, joined us for
the event and shared her passion for the dairy industry and
encouraged us to continue to promote the livelihood we
love.
The featured speaker was Dr. David Selner, Executive Director, National Dairy Shrine, Denmark, Wis. In his remarks,
Dr. Selner encouraged attendees to consider seven characteristics he believes dairy industry leaders possess. Those
characteristics are mentoring, goal setting, optimism, passion, history, education, and responsibility.
The Distinguished Service Award was presented to Glen
and Lois Nelson, Milltown, Wis. for their contributions to
the Gopher Dairy Club. The Nelsons, who are registered
Ayrshire breeders, have hosted the University of Minnesota
dairy judging teams at their farm for more than 40 years.
Ken Herbranson of Clitherall, Minn., received the Golden
Graduate Award, an award presented to a University of
Minnesota alumnus who has made honorable contributions
to the dairy industry. Ken serves as chairperson of the Dairy
Producer board of directors for the Minnesota Division of
the Midwest Dairy Association.
The Gopher Dairy Club also had the opportunity to recognize several exceptional new club members. Ethan Dado
of Amery, Wis., received the 2014 Douglas Siem Memorial
Scholarship of $2,000. In addition, 10 new student $1,500
scholarships were awarded to the following students: Kayla
Brown, of Hastings; Annie Culbertson of Pine Island; Jeni
Haler of Waconia; Johanna Knorr of Pelican Rapids; Andrew Krause of Buffalo; Nicole Krumrie of New Hope;
Audrey Lane of Prior Lake; Kirstin Lawstuen of Lanesboro;
Trevor Otte of Randolph; Crystal Siemers-Peterman of
Cleveland, Wis.
Member Andrew Hetke (right), presents Glen and
Lois Nelson with the Distinguished Service Award
In addition, current members were recognized for their impressive contributions to our club. Jenn Janek received the
Outstanding Senior Award. The R.W. Touchberry Award
was given to Michael Schmidt, and Katie Schmidt received
the Outstanding Rookie Award as a sophomore.
The dairy cattle judging teams did outstanding again this
year, representing the University of Minnesota at the national level. Each year, two seniors can be nominated, per
agricultural university, for the Student Recognition Program of National Dairy Shrine and the 2014 nominees are
Erin Daninger and Tyler Otte. The Midwest Dairy Association sponsored the Senior Judging Team awards and Genex/
CRI sponsored the National Dairy Shrine Student Recognition Program awards.
Another remarkable team to note is the Dairy Management
Challenge Team coached by Marcia Endres. Team members
include: Jeff Borst, Tyler Otte, Laura Rosenhammer, and
Ben Thorpe with awards presented by MN Select Sires.
The banquet provides an excellent opportunity for members
and attendees to reflect on the accomplishments, memories,
and dairy industry promotion achieved over the last year by
the Gopher Dairy Club. Thank you to alumni, faculty, and
the many supporters of the Gopher Dairy Club who help
to maintain its reputation of one of the largest and most
successful student organizations at the University of Minnesota.
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Gopher Dairy Club
Haecker Hall
1364 Eckles Avenue
St. Paul, MN 55108
Contact Info: 612.624.2277
gdc@umn.edu
www.ansci.umn.edu/gdc/
Congratulations to Past and Present Members!
Engagements
William Coyne & Jennifer Janak recently announced
their engagement.
Weddings
Emily Krekelberg & Clayton Wilmes will be tying the
knot on Saturday, May 31, 2014.
Emilie Lane & Tyler Evink will be joined together on
Saturday, July 5th, 2014.
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Dates to Remember
National ADSA
Kansas City, MO
July 19-22
Food Animal
Networking Evening
October 16