Congratulations to the Iowa State University Dairy Judging Team that competed at the Southwest Intercollegiate Dairy Cattle Judging Contest held at the Southwestern Exposition and Livestock Show in Fort Worth, TX. Team members consisted of Joseph Achen, Mondovi, WI; Jon Chapman, Turlock, CA; Anders Lovstuen, Waukon, IA; and Haley Ronnebaum, Earlville, IA.
The trip started with an excellent practice stop at Groves-View Dairy in Billings, MO, where team members evaluated Brown Swiss and Holsteins, and the team also practiced at Sandy Creek Farm (Brown Swiss) in Bridgeport, TX, and at Capstone Dairy in Windthorst, TX.
On contest day, in Brown Swiss, Anders was 1st, and the team was 2nd. In the Holstein breed, Anders was 1st, Haley was 5th, and the team was 1st. Moving on to Jerseys, Anders was 3rd, Joseph was 6th, and the team was 2nd. In reasons, Anders was 1st, and the team was 3rd. At the end of the day, Anders was 2nd high individual overall, and Joseph was 8th. Both helped propel the team to a 2nd place finish overall out of 9 teams.
Iowa State also had several people compete as individuals: Tyler Machin, Newton, IA; Anne Simpson, Pine Island, MN; and Lexi Steffens, Clermont, IA. Highlights include Lexi being 4th in Brown Swiss, Anne was 3rd in Holsteins, Anne was 10th in reasons, and Anne was 11th High Individual Overall.
We are extremely proud of the commitment, dedication, and effort all dairy judging team participants put into the fall 2025 judging season, which enabled them to be very successful in TX – way to go Cyclones!
