Illini Dairy Club Pipeline

2001-2002

Below are some excerpts from the 2001-2002 Pipeline.

Illinois State Fair

Squeeeeezzzze and Puuuullll! Another great year at the 2001 Illinois State Fair this past summer. Over 6,500 people milked a cow this year at the Illini Dairy Club’s Milk-A-Cow Booth to set us at a new record. Upon milking a cow, not just the children were awarded an “I Milked A Cow At The Illinois State Fair” button, but parents and grandparents alike who milked a cow got this great prize as well. With milk donated my Prairie Farms the choice of white or chocolate became unbearably hard but well managed for the little kids who love that chocolate.

Opening at nine o’clock in the morning and finishing up at seven in the evenings made way for a lot of little and big hands touching the udders of two very lucky Jersey cows. Nine o’clock seemed like mid-afternoon to some of us that were up at 4:30AM on some mornings washing cows for show or just in preparation for the long day ahead. And needless to say the nights were young all the time, even though we knew that mornings came quickly. We had plenty of help this year from club members who stayed all week to help or some who could just stay for a day, everyone added to the fun and excitement. We are thankful to Gene McCoy who was there all week with us as well as Jimmy Campbell who was a great help, too. The days were filled with work and the nights, just as the days, were filled with fun.

We had some new and old faces through the booth this summer. We had the long time comer, Mrs. George Ryan come with her grandchildren again this year. Nancy Cantor, the newest addition to the University of Illinois staff, as Chancellor, stop by and give a squeeze as well. Thanks so much for your continued support and we look forward to seeing you next year.

By: Adam Drinkall

The annual Illini Dairy Club Fall Call Out was held on at 6:00 p.m. in 131 Animal Science Laboratory. Of the people who attended, many were freshmen or new members who were interested in becoming involved with the club. Unlike many years, most of the attendants were not from a dairy farm background. Ice cream, cake, cookies and milk were served while introductions of individuals and a general description of what the club participates in during the year were given.

President Becky Meyer led the meeting and officers talked a little about their duties and encouraged others to participate in committees for the upcoming year. After a short question and answer session, the meeting was adjourned and everyone was encouraged to meet one another. Once again another successful fall call out was presented by the Illini Dairy Club. We were excited to see the promising new faces anxious to be involved with our program.

The Illini Dairy Club held it’s annual cow Olympics at the University of Illinois Dairy farm. The evening's festivities started off by a welcome by President Becky Meyer, then it was time for the competitions to begin. The approximately 25 members in attendance split up into 3 teams and began to strategize for the first event; the milk off. With the assistance of 2 jerseys and an aryshire the teams competed in a hand milking contest to see who could get the most milk from their cow in the allotted time. The teams learned the true meaning of not crying over spilled milk as some of the cows decided to increase the competition level by kicking over their buckets. Next the teams had to select two representatives to be their hands unit as it was time for the butter toss. The next event would test the strength of the teams as the began the bale toss, where members had to throw a bale of straw as far as possible. A few unique throwing approaches were tried, but in the end Andy Lenkiatis impressed us all by throwing it out the door, unfortunately the throw had to be scratched because he step over the line. The final event of the evening was feed the cow, where teams had to place a piece of “hay” as close as possible to the mouth of the famous posilac poster cow, after being spun around and blind folded. Some teams obviously did not realize the rules of this event and illegal talking occurred, but in the end the winning teams prevailed. After a small butter fight started by a few playful members, pizza and soda was enjoyed by all, and the actual business meeting was held. The winning team got the luxury of picking their prizes first followed by the other two teams. It was a great way to kick off the new year and to get the new members involved.

The University of Illinois dairy judging team was comprised of 10 participants this year. Coached by Gene McCoy and Dr. David Miller, team members practiced at several herds throughout Illinois preparing for regional contests and the national contest.

Seven juniors and one senior comprised two teams that participated in the Accelerated Genetics contest held in Viroqua, WI on September 16, 2001. The first team of Kristi Grindey, Jennifer Meier, Lou Kutzler, and Nely Van Derleeuw finished ninth. The second team of Tara Bohnert, Becky Ann Meyer, Jeff Wilson, and Warner Van Dieren finished third out of 16 teams. Kristi Grindey was first in Brown Swiss and Jennifer Meier finished first in Guernsey’s. Becky Ann Meyer was 2nd in Ayrshire’s. Warner Van Dieren was 4th in Guernsey’s. Jeff Wilson was 3rd in Jerseys. Individually overall, Jeff Wilson was 7th and Jennifer Meier was 10th. Team one finished third in Brown Swiss while team two was 5th in Ayrshire’s, 5th in Brown Swiss, 3rd in Holsteins, 2nd in Jerseys, and 4th in Milking Shorthorns.

Then two seniors nad two juniors competed in the Pennsylvania All-American Contest in Harrisburg, PA on September 24th. Those team members were Becky Jo Meier, Jennifer Meier, Kristi Grindey, and Lou Kutzler. Lou finished 3rd in Aryshire’s and the team finished 4th in Jerseys. Overall they were 10th out of 14 teams.

The next contest was held September 29th at the Southern Intercollegiate Dairy Judging contest in Memphis, TN. The four juniors that participated were Becky Ann Meyer, Tara Bohnert, Jeff Wilson, and Brent Pollard. The team finished 2nd in Ayrshires, 3rd in Brown Swiss, 4th in Guernsey’s, 7th in Holsteins, 9th in Jerseys, 2nd in oral reasons for a finish of 3rd overall. Individually, Tara Bohnert was 6th in Jerseys, Jeff Wilson was 3rd in Ayrshire’s, 9th in Brown Swiss, 6th in reasons, and 6th overall. Becky Ann finished 4th in Ayrshire’s, 1st in Brown Swiss, 4th in Holsteins, 9th in Jersey’s, 2nd in reasons, for a 1st place finish overall!

Two juniors and two seniors participated at the National Collegiate contest held in conjunction with World Dairy Expo in Madison, WI. The team members were Becky Jo Meier, Jennifer Meier, Kristi Grindey and Lou Kutzler. The team finished 5th out of 23 teams. The team finished 3rd in Aryshire’s, 7th in Brown Swiss, 2nd in Guernsey’s, 9th in Milking Shorthorns, 1st in Red and Whites, and 9th in oral reasons. Three team members received All-American status with Kristi Grindey placing 6th, and Becky Jo Meier and Jennifer Meier tied for 25th overall. Kristi Grindey was 7th in Ayrshire’s, 9th in Guernsey’s, and 7th in Milking Shorthorns. Becky Jo Meier was 4th in Red and Whites. In the linear contest, Lou Kutzler finished 7th overall and Jennifer Meier was 18th, while the team finished 6th.

The next contest was held on November 4th at the North America International Livestock Arena in Louisville, KY. Three team members competed, and they were Becky Jo Meier, Jennifer Meier, and Kristi Grindey. The team finished 4th overall out of 20 teams. Becky Jo Meier was 9th in Ayrshire’s and 2nd in Jersey’s. Jennifer Meier was 3rd in Jersey’s. Kristi Grindey was 6th in Jerseys. Individually overall, Becky Jo Meier was 11th, Jennifer Meier 14th, and Kristi Grindey 17th. As a team they were 6th in Ayrshire’s, 7th in Brown Swiss, 1st in Jersey’s, and 10th in oral reasons.

The last contest for the judging season was the Southwestern Exposition and Livestock Show held in Fort Worth, TX. The team members were Kristi Grindey, Lou Kutzler, Jennifer Meier, and Becky Jo Meier. In the Jersey’s, Kristi placed 8th nad the team was 4th. In the Guernsey’s, Becky Jo placed 5th and Kristi placed 9th for a team placing of 6th. In Brown Swiss, Kristi placed 9th and the team placed 3rd. The team finished 8th in Holsteins and 3rd in reasons. Overall the team finished 5th out of 11 teams. Individually, Kristi finished 14th, Becky Jo 18th, and Lou 23rd.

Coaches McCoy and Miller and the entire team wish to thank the many breeders who made cattle available to practice judging. We would also like to thank Rock-I Farm, Ron and Rebecca Debatin, Larry Gerdes, Paaske’s, Prairie State/Select Sires, Lena-Vet Clinic, Orangeville Animal Health, and other organizations which helped sponsor these students with a sincere interest in the diary industry.

The 2001 University of Illinois Dairy Judging Team would like to thank the following farms for providing cattle for practice/workouts during the 2001 fall:

By: Kristi Grindey

On Friday, February 15, 27 Illini Dairy Club members and Gene McCoy left for the Midwest Regional American Dairy Science Association-Student Affiliate Division (ADSA-SAD) annual meeting at the Ohio State University. We stopped on the way at the Land of Living Farm in Mechanicsburg, Ohio. This registered Guernsey farm owned by John and Bonnie Ayars is home to many All-American cattle. Friday evening consisted of many activities. First we had three teams competing in the Quiz bowl contest. Illinois senior team 1 consisted of Brent Pollard, Jeff Wilson, Kristi Grindey, and Charlie Lenkaitis. The other Senior team, Illinois 2, consisted of Becky and Jennifer Meier, Adam Drinkall, and Matt McGarvey. Finally, Jessica Plocher, Carrie Timmerman, Andy Lenkaitis, and Kathy Dauderman made up the Junior team. All three teams were victorious and went on to the championship final rounds Saturday morning. Later in the evening was a Karaoke contest that we competed in and received 5th place. The evening ended with a dance.

Saturday morning was the annual business meeting where Brent Pollard gave up his duties of Officer at Large and Charlie Lenkaitis was voted Secretary/Treasurer for 2002/2003. Iowa State was voted to host next years annual meeting. After the business meeting everyone attended tours of the OSU Dairy Farm and the Vet Med facility. That evening we attended the Awards Banquet. Illinois was recognized for having the first and second place senior quiz bowl teams, the second place junior team, and first place Club Display. We had the opportunity to listen to Bernie Heisner, a University of Illinois alum, who currently works for COBA/Select Sires. The evening ended with another dance. Sunday morning we loaded up and headed back for Illinois, we will be looking forward to going again next year.

Throughout the year, the Illini Dairy Club works hard as a group to support the dairy industry. However, once a year they take a break to reflect upon the past year, recognize and thank their members and supporters for all of their hard work and support. On April 27, 2002, nearly 100 club members, advisors, faculty and guests gathered at the Park Inn in Urbana for the annual awards banquet.

During the banquet, department and College addresses were given by Dr. Merchant and Interim Dean Easter, faculty were introduced, Gene McCoy reported the success of the U of I dairy judging team, and awards were presented.
The club was honored to have Bob Miller, a strong supporter of the Illini Dairy Club and one of the top Holstein Breeders of all-time, present as the keynote speaker for the evening.

One of the highlights of the evening was the announcement of the Dedication to the Pipeline to Dr. James Robinson. He was presented a gift in for all of his contributions to the club throughout the past years.