Burlington—For several Vermont 4-H’ers, September 13-14 was a whirlwind as they competed in several dairy events at the “Big E” in West Springfield, Massachusetts.

In the general knowledge contest, which tested the 4-H’ers on everything dairy, Vermont captured four Top 10 places in the Junior Division (ages 12 to 14) and two in the Senior Division (15 to18). Caroline Allen, Panton, placed first for Juniors with Taryn Burns, Shoreham, coming in fourth and Tenley Chittenden, Whiting, and Natalie Hill, Greensboro, tying for sixth. In the Senior Division, Torrey Hanna, Addison, was third and Noa Sauve, Colchester, fifth.

Vermont sent two teams to Eastern States for the judging competition in which the 4-H'ers were asked to evaluate several breed classes and provide oral reasons for four classes. To determine team rankings, the scores of all members of each team were combined. Thirty-two individuals on nine teams competed.

Mackenzie Chase, Bristol; Zach Johnson, Tunbridge; Brailey Livingston, New Haven; and Morgan Michaud, East Hardwick; made up the Vermont A Team, which captured first place for total score in the breed classes. The team came in first for judging Ayrshires, Brown Swiss and Milking Shorthorns with a third-place finish for Holsteins, fourth for Jerseys and sixth for Guernseys. They also placed second for oral reasons and first place overall.

For individual scores, Mackenzie Chase placed first in Brown Swiss, second in Ayrshires and twelfth in oral reasons. Zach Johnson took first in Milking Shorthorns and oral reasons and third in Ayrshires. Brailey Livingston was sixth in Brown Swiss and eighth in Milking Shorthorns and oral reasons. Morgan Michaud placed first in Ayshires, third in Brown Swiss, fifth in Holsteins and tenth in oral reasons.

The Vermont B Team consisted of Dawson Michaud, East Hardwick; Talon Michaud, Greensboro Bend; and Madalyn Perry and Emmeline Paquet, both from East Montpelier. Team placements included a first in Holsteins, fourth in Ayrshires, fifth in Brown Swiss and Jerseys, sixth in Milking Shorthorns, seventh in Guernseys and eighth in oral reasons.

Individually, Dawson Michaud took fourth in Jerseys, Talon Michaud third in Holsteins and seventh in Jerseys with Madalyn Perry capturing first in Holsteins.

Representing Vermont in the clipping contest were Brailey Livingston, New Haven; Morgan Michaud, East Hardwick; and Isabella Wilbur, Orwell. The team placed second overall.

For this competition, each three-member team had one hour to prepare their animal for show. Scoring was based on a number of criteria, including preparation, technique, teamwork and overall finished appearance of the animal. Teams were required to explain their process and the steps taken to clip and groom their animal in the given time period.

Vermont 4-H’ers also competed in two other dairy events with Caroline Allen, Panton, and Whitney Dunklee, Vernon, teaming up to take third place in the Extreme Milkshake Competition. Jayden Ploof and Kylee Shepard, both from Panton, and Bella Roell, New Haven, won fifth place in the Creative Grilled Cheese Competition.