Purdue Dairy Judging

Last week we held the very first Purdue Dairy Judging Camp. The camp was a success as 37 youth from every corner of the state and even a group from Illinois gathered in West Lafayette to develop their dairy judging skills in preparation for the state contest. Special thanks to Emma Townsend for being both an IT expert and a dairy judging guru. We hope everyone had fun and are better prepared for the state contest next week. Good luck to all.

Don’t forget to register for the dairy judging workshop. Registration is still open. Come and improve your skills before the state contest.

https://purduedairyjudgingcamp.4honline.com

A bittersweet day as we say not only goodbye, but good luck and congratulations on their graduation to the members of the very successful 2025 Purdue Dairy Judging Team. As their coach, it’s only fitting that these 4 shared their senior pictures as it was a joy to watch them develop not only individually but also meld as a team and watch their friendship kindle.
RACHEL CRAUN from Weyers Cave, Virginia graduated with a degree in Ag Engineering. Rachel will be working in Peoria, IL for Maurer Stutz, a civil engineering firm, in the ag group working on farm-site plans, nutrient management, facility design, and conservation.
SYDNEY HAAG from Thorntown, IN graduated with a degree in Animal Science with minors in Spanish and Agribusiness Management. Sydney will marry the love of her life, Levi Baker, in June and they will settle in South Dakota where she will be working for Elanco as a dairy sales representative.
EMMA TOWNSEND from Lafayette, IN graduated with a degree in Public Health and a minor in Biology. Emma is currently applying to Master’s programs with a long term goal of attending medical school to become a rural family medicine physician.
ALAINA WEAVER from Roann , IN graduated with a degree in Agribusiness Finance. Alaina will be returning to her family’s dairy farm where she will also contract raise feeder steers.
Congratulations ladies. You have made your coach and your university proud.

Purdue Dairy Judging finished 2nd in a tight contest, winning reasons and finishing 2nd in placings. Individually, Rhea Miller was 2nd in placings, 2nd in reasons and 2nd overall. Amelia Stone was 1st in reasons. Congratulations to our friends from Modesto for winning the contest.

Good luck to Ruth (Amelia), Rhonda(Rhea), Sam ( Seth), and LoGansta’(Logen) as they compete in the Western National today.

For the second time in three years (and second time in school history), the Purdue Dairy Judging team is competing at the Western National contest. Monday was spent in preparation (and enjoying the scenery of snow-capped mountains).
Thanks to Pappy’s Holsteins and Chugg’s Jerseys for providing high quality classes.

https://purduedairyjudgingcamp.4honline.com

It is always bittersweet to say farewell to another judging team. Last week we celebrated the successful 2025 Purdue Dairy Judging Team at the end of the year banquet. Congratulations to Emma who was voted by her peers as the “Most Valuable Judger” and took home the coveted “Hammer”.
Alaina, Emma, Rachel, and Sydney will, no doubt, be successful in their future endeavors, as they were during their judging careers. As their coach, I really appreciate each of these young ladies. They definitely followed “Rule #1” (have fun). Thank you ladies for your dedication to Purdue Dairy Judging and for representing the university so well.

An end-of-year celebration was hosted for students who have represented on judging teams throughout the year.

Students from Purdue University Livestock Judging, Purdue Dairy Judging, Purdue University Meat Judging, Meat Animal Evaluation, Dairy Challenge and Animal Welfare Assessment came together to connect, share stories and celebrate their hard work alongside teammates and coaches.