National Holstein Convention Where Youth Learn and Compete

"They learn a lot," says Cathy Boisseranc, Washington State Junior Holstein Advisor for the National Holstein Convention of the youth from Washington State that will be attending the convention in late June.

While the convention is for both adults in the industry and youth, there are twenty-five young men and women from all over Washington State that will be travelling to Sarasota Springs, New York, for the 2016 National Holstein Convention, Boisseranc explains. While the majority of the kids are from the Snohomish area, some are from Grant County, the Spangle area, and Chelan.

It is impractical to take cattle to New York State, Boisseranc says, but the youth will still be involved in competitions such as "Dairy Bowl" and "Dairy Jeopardy." In Dairy Bowl, teams compete to buzz in with the right answer and the team with the most points at the end wins. Dairy Jeopardy is done just like the television game show, Boisseranc explains. The kids can do an educational display for competition, too, or give speeches. The teams will compete on having the best banner, or the best traditional or digital scrapbook.

Learning opportunities include touring local farms to see how they might do things differently than are done in Washington State, Boisseranc says. She adds they'll meet friends they'll have for life. The kids can be as young as nine up to twenty-one, so the younger ones learn how to be more independent being away from their parents. Boisseranc explains that a lot of the youth might be taking over family farms someday and that what they learn at the conference can help them when they do. They will also have networking opportunities so that in the future, if they have a problem, they will have someone they can call for help. And, Boisseranc says, there are opportunities to obtain scholarships to help pay for college.

RJ Rupard, 15, and his sister Danica, 10, are both going to the Convention. The Ephrata siblings will both be doing the Dairy Jeopardy on different teams and RJ shows a thick binder of "questions they might ask" that he's been studying. RJ says he's been working hard with two-hour conference calls and travelling to Snohomish to practice "buzzing in."

Danica says with a shy smile that she's looking forward to it but she's a little bit nervous. She's also doing an educational poster for competition. Her father, Raine, adds that "it's pretty cool that kids get to do fun stuff like this at a young age." RJ, who is interested in a career in the cattle industry, says he's looking forward to visiting other farms and being able to "get some insight" on how they do things. "Everyone says it is like a party," RJ adds with a smile.

There is competition to be able to go on this trip, Boisseranc explains. Youth have to try out for the Dairy Bowl and Dairy Jeopardy because they are only allowed a certain number of participates. "In order to go you have to participate in some way," Boisseranc says, from fundraising to helping with the banner or the scrapbooks. The cost is about $1,300 per person to go so fundraising is important.

All four children of the Bartels family from Spangle are going to attend. Clair, 9, wants to go in order to support her friends who are competing in the Dairy Bowl and Dairy Jeopardy where she hopes to compete next year. She also wants to "see the different cows" and the dairies. Reid, 11, also wants to compete in Dairy Jeopardy next year and wants to see the variety of cows and the other dairies in New York. "I'm looking forward to it," he says.

Emma Kate Bartels, 13, is competing by doing an educational display on the different types of dehorning. She is looking forward to talking to different people from around the country who know about Holsteins along with seeing her friends compete in Dairy Bowl "because I'm going to do it next year." "I'm excited by it and little nervous at the same time," she adds.

Ashlyn, 15, is also competing in an educational display about "sex semen versus non-sex semen." She is looking forward to seeing what other dairies are like and getting to know all the people who raise Holsteins. She says she's excited to go but it's a long time to be away from her own animals. Ashlyn has a Holstein that she milks, and a heifer. Next year she hopes to participate in the speech competition and do Dairy Jeopardy.

Their mother, Sheri Bartels, explains that the family lives on a dairy and that all four children have cows they raise to show and sell. She says the convention "is such a good opportunity for the kids," as they'll make contacts they can use if they go into the dairy industry. They will also be working the Washington State Booth there which will let them meet lots of people. "It's really good for them," Bartels concludes.

The hard part is practicing for the competitions, Boisseranc explains, with everyone spread all over the state. They try to get together at least once a month in person to practice, usually in conjunction with a fundraiser, she says. Otherwise, they will try to practice in a conference call. "We want everyone to be able to participate," she says. "Washington always does very well in the competitions," Boisseranc adds.

It doesn't always go as planned, however, Boisseranc says. One year, due to weather, the group was stuck in the Chicago O'Hare Airport for four days. But, she says, the kids coped and learned how to make beds for themselves.

Next year, the convention will be in Bellevue, Washington at the Hyatt hotel.  The 2016 National Holstein Convention in Sarasota Springs, NY, starts June 27th and runs through July 1st.