‘Superbowl of the dairy industry’: Cows compete at Wisconsin Dairy Expo

Fans whirred as Laura Holtzinger showed off half a dozen jersey cows, which were resting in a tent at the World Dairy Expo in Madison.

“They’re shiny because we put baby oil on them,” she explained. “Like people in … (a) muscle contest or something,”

Holtzinger is co-owner of a cattle breeding business called Big Time Genetics. Some of her cows traveled from River Falls for this week’s competition.

But not every member of the herd got to come. A Holstein named Fahrenheit was among those left behind.

Fahrenheit has won before, but she’s gotten a “little chunky,” Holtzinger said.

“Basically, it’s like a beauty pageant,” Holtzinger said. “And so, yeah, like athletes, they need to be in good shape.”

The World Dairy Expo drew tens of thousands of people from across the globe to the Alliant Energy Center this week. It also drew thousands of cows — more than 2,600 dairy animals were housed at this year’s expo, an event spokesperson said.

The annual trade show involves networking, sales from vendors and presentations on the latest agricultural techniques.

Like ‘Miss America pageants’ for North America’s best dairy cows

It also includes what Jeannie Bishop describes as “Miss America pageants” but for “North America’s best dairy cows.”

Throughout the week, cows are paraded through a colosseum, as judges decide which cow is the best in its breed. Occasionally, workers in red shirts join the cows and their handlers on the stage floor to discretely clean up messes with pooper-scoopers attached to long handles. The winning cows get purple ribbons.

This year’s competitors included several Holstein and Brown Swiss cows from Bishop’s family farm in Watertown.

She says judges scope out cows for very specific characteristics.

“They like tall, long cows with well-attached udders,” Bishop said. “They definitely have a presence to them that’s hard to describe, but a presence and a confidence.”

Another competitor, Ryan Lauber of Minnesota, uses a blow dryer and hairspray on a heifer named Risky, about an hour before her scheduled show time.

“This one kind of has it all,” he said, as he took a comb to the cow’s hair. “You want them to be straight, deep-ribbed, silky with good feet and legs.”

Still, the cow’s legs shouldn’t be too straight, said Kris Ackley, who brought cows to compete from Ohio.

“You want to kind of look like a little bit of a ‘C,’ but not too much,” he said. “You can tell (if ) they can move around comfortably.”

Winners have a certain je ne sais quoi. Or perhaps a je ne sais cow.

“You have to have ring presence, a little stylishness to them,” Ackley said. “Some cows have it. Some don’t. That’s just kind of how it is.”

Cattle tents take on tailgate-like atmosphere during weeklong competition

Throughout the week, the inside of the cattle tents take on a tailgate-like atmosphere. The cows still have to be milked regularly while they’re in town for competition, which means their owners are often by their sides.

Many of the competitors have booths set up in the barn with tables, chairs and snacks. Some play music over loudspeakers. And participants can pay extra to have their section hooked up to a TV.

Holtzinger watches a live cow show from one those TVs on Thursday, while she tends to her cattle in the barn.

It’s a spectacle she looks forward to every year. She follows some of the competing cattle on social media, where many have their own pages.

“People get invested, kind of like with sports teams,” Holtzinger said, before referencing a champion Jersey cow. “Like, will anyone beat Bailey?”

Thirteen-year-old Evan Brey spent months preparing for the expo. His winter calf, named Betley Look at Her Red, ended up placing in the top 10 of a junior competition.

Each day, Evan gets up at around 5:45 a.m. so he can let the cows out before schoool.

“The day that you take off is the day that your opponents get one step better,” he said.