Posted: October 9, 2019

Team places first in oral reasons in three contests; was first at the All-American Dairy Show, second at the World Dairy Expo and third at Eastern States Exposition.

Penn State’s winning judging team at the All-American Dairy Show collegiate judging contest -  from left: Caleb McGee, Daniel Kitchen, Belle Dallam and Gregory Norris.

Penn State’s winning judging team at the All-American Dairy Show collegiate judging contest - from left: Caleb McGee, Daniel Kitchen, Belle Dallam and Gregory Norris.

Penn State's Dairy Cattle Judging Team concluded a successful fall season, highlighted by capturing first place in oral reasons at the three national contests: the Intercollegiate Dairy Cattle Judging Contest held as part of the 2019 World Dairy Expo in Madison, WI; the All-American Youth Invitational Contest in Harrisburg, PA; and the Eastern States Exposition in Springfield, MA.

In Harrisburg the team placed first overall; in Madison they were second overall; and at Eastern States they were third overall.

Judging team members were Belle Dallam, Bel Air, MD; Daniel Kitchen, Danville, PA; Caleb McGee, Clearfield, PA; and Gregory Norris, Westhampton, MA. The team was coached by Dale Olver, instructor of dairy and animal science.

At the All-American contest, the team also earned high team honors for Ayrshires, Brown Swiss, Guernseys, and Holsteins. Individually, Kitchen was high individual overall and high for Holsteins and oral reasons. McGee earned high Ayrshire individual honors, placed third in oral reasons, and was tenth high individual. Norris placed first in Brown Swiss, eighth in oral reasons, and was fourth high individual. Finally, Dallam earned first place in Guernseys, fifth for oral reasons, and ninth overall.

At the World Dairy Expo contest, the Penn State team placed second overall and first for oral reasons and earned high team honors for Jerseys and Milking Shorthorns. Overall, three members earned All-American honors with Kitchen placing 23rd, Norris placing 11th, and McGee earning fifth-place overall honors. Dallam placed fifth for Ayrshires and sixth for Brown Swiss. Norris placed second for Brown Swiss, sixth in oral reasons, and seventh in Jerseys and Milking Shorthorns. McGee placed third for Brown Swiss, ninth in Holsteins, sixth in Jerseys, first in Milking Shorthorns, and second in oral reasons, while Kitchen placed fifth in Jerseys and ninth in Milking Shorthorns.

At the Eastern States Exposition in Springfield, MA, the team was high in three breeds.

Dr. Terry Etherton, Head of the Department of Dairy Science, said, "I congratulate the dairy judging team for their impressive showing at these very competitive national contests. They worked extremely hard to achieve these outstanding accomplishments. I am very grateful to their coach Dale Olver and others who spent countless hours working with the team to get them ready for these judging competitions."