Posted: December 13, 2022
The Lancaster County 4-H senior dairy bowl team — Jacob Bramm, Olivia Bramm, Madelynn Hoffman, AJ Wanner and Alexa Hoffman — recently took second place at the National 4-H Dairy Quiz Bowl Contest at the North American International Livestock Exposition.
Held in Louisville, Kentucky, the exposition is the largest all-breed, purebred livestock expo in the nation, with nearly 30,000 entries and more than 140 competitions spanning 17 days and 10 species.
In addition to placing second as a team, all team members placed in the top 10 in the individual written tests. The team represented Pennsylvania at this national contest after previously winning the statewide 4-H dairy bowl competition.
"Dairy bowl contests are about mastery of the breadth and depth of knowledge related to dairy cattle," said Kirsten Dubbs, 4-H animal science specialist with Penn State Extension.
To prepare for such contests, these 4-H youth spent years learning dairy knowledge, including anatomy and physiology, common breeds, animal health care practices, management, reproduction, dairy products and processing, and industry trends.
This year, the team held weekly winter and spring dairy bowl practices and independent study work throughout the summer.
"This team dedicated huge amounts of time and practiced through the pandemic, waiting for this opportunity to compete," Dubbs said. "They are dedicated and knowledgeable. The amount of information that they must be able to recall quickly is impressive. It's a big achievement for them to compete at this level."
Administered in Pennsylvania by Penn State Extension, 4-H is a nonformal educational youth-development program of the United States Department of Agriculture that helps young people develop knowledge and skills to become capable, caring and contributing citizens. To find your local program, visit the Penn State Extension website.
