Burlington--Vermont finished third at the 2023 North American 4-H Dairy Quiz Bowl after the first-place New York and second-place Wisconsin teams. 

The national competition was held November 3 and 4 in conjunction with the North American International Livestock Exposition in Louisville, Kentucky. Teams hailed from states as far south as Mississippi and as far west as Washington.    

Members of the Vermont team were Torrey Hanna, Addison; Amy Vaughan, Newbury; Morgan White, Whiting; and Elizabeth Waterman, Thetford Center. They were coached by Stacey Bowen, North Clarendon, and Judy Vaughan, Newbury.

The two-day event got underway with a written test that was used to seed the state teams for the double-elimination competition. Many of the questions focused on the management of calves and heifers, animal welfare and technology, the topic areas of emphasis for this year’s competition. Elizabeth Waterman had the fourth highest individual score on the test. 

Fourteen teams competed in fact-paced, buzzer rounds, scoring points for being the first to buzz in with correct answers to questions about dairy breeds, herd health, reproduction, calf raising, feeds and forages, milk production, dairy products marketing, livestock diseases, farm management practices and the dairy industry, among other topics. Vermont beat Minnesota to capture third place.

The Vermonters got acquainted with 4-H’ers from other states at a pizza party and attended the awards banquet at the conclusion of the event. They also had an opportunity to watch some of the exposition’s dairy show competitions.

Funding for their trip was provided in part by the State 4-H Dairy Committee. Each team member also took part in local fundraising efforts to help cover the cost of the trip and received a K. Stewart Gibson Award, a scholarship given in honor of a former University of Vermont Extension dairy specialist.

To learn more about the Vermont 4-H dairy program, contact Wendy Sorrell at (802) 656-7641 or (800) 571-0668 (toll-free in Vermont).