By Jim Massey
Freelance writer
Kylie Konyn has gotten used to the pressure associated with a daylong dairy judging competition during her four-year career as a student in the UW-Madison Animal and Dairy Sciences Department.
In fact, in each of the national contests she has competed in during her college career, she has earned a top five finish. But she had never placed first – until she did so at the National Intercollegiate Dairy Cattle Judging Contest in September at the World Dairy Expo.
Photo curtesy of Kylie Konyn
The Dairy Expo judging competition is considered the most prestigious of the national dairy judging contests, so when Konyn squeaked out a first place finish via a tiebreaker, it was a joyous moment and a huge relief.
“Until they start giving the final placings you really don’t know how you did,” she says. “Even when they announced the reasons winner and I had finished first in that category, I still wasn’t in the clear. I ended up in an overall tie (with Naomi Scott of Iowa State University), and the reasons score was the tiebreaker. So it was real exciting when that was announced. It’s the head mama of all of the national contests.”
The contest begins about 7 a.m. and concludes about 4 in the afternoon, Konyn says. Participants judge about a dozen classes of dairy animals, provide oral reasons for their placings, and get judged on how their scores compare to those of the contest officials. The World Dairy Expo contest is considered the most difficult to judge because of the subtle differences between the world-class cows that are part of the show strings.
“At the end of the day it’s really about what those cows look like,” she says. “You take notes about the classes, but you also have to be able to remember the cows without your notes. It’s an individual-style contest where you can’t talk to your teammates until the competition is complete.”
While the competition is individualized and competitors can’t confer with their teammates, Konyn says when it comes to preparing for judging competitions, every member of the team is equally important. Teammates spend hours traveling across the state to visit farms to evaluate cattle and more hours in the classroom and out, learning what to look for in a high-type animal.
The team is coached by Trent Olson and Brian Kelroy. Both have full-time off-campus jobs – Olson is North American genetic service trainer for ABS Global, and Kelroy is a dairy production specialist for the Zoetis animal health company. Olson joined the program as a coach in 2018 while Kelroy has been coaching at the school since 2010.
“Brian and I have different backgrounds and strengths,” Olson says. “Brian is an accomplished judge on the national and international scale, so he brings more of the cattle evaluation side of things to the table. I really like working with the students on their oral reasons and communication skills, so we complement each other very well.”
Olson says seeing Konyn win the title at the World Dairy Expo “makes all the time and effort we put in as coaches worthwhile.”
“To be successful as a dairy judge you have to have a passion for the dairy cow and a good eye for cattle, and Kylie has that in spades,” Olson says. “She’s also really been able to thrive in the mental marathon that is the deductive reasoning portion of the contest. But what really makes Kylie unique and fun to coach is that extra drive and motivation. Whenever we would spend a weekend of practice, she would always ask, ‘What did I miss, what could I do better?’ She is continually striving and pushing to try to figure out how she can grow her knowledge base. She is never satisfied.”
Other members of the UW-Madison dairy judging team at the 2024 World Dairy Expo were Chloe LaCrosse, Natalie Roe and Emma Dorshorst. The team placed second behind the University of Minnesota.
Olson says each member of the team brings something different to the table and they all compete at a high level. At the 2023 North American International Livestock Exposition in Louisville, Ky., Konyn and Roe tied for first place, and Roe won on a tiebreaker.
“That’s really a rare occurrence to have two students from a school finish one-two – that was a fun experience and really lit the fire for that team, that the time and effort they put into it is worth it,” Olson says.
Konyn is a native of Escondido, Calif., and her family owns the last-remaining dairy farm in San Diego County. Her family milks about 900 cows.
Konyn, a senior, could have graduated in December, but she decided to take a minimum number of credits and stay an extra semester so she could go on some trips with the clubs she is involved in and attend some dairy industry conferences. She is active in the Badger Dairy Club, Collegiate Farm Bureau, Saddle and Sirloin, and the Poultry Club.
“This semester is about building and strengthening relationships and making some fun memories,” she says.
She plans to pursue a master’s degree in dairy nutrition and management at Cornell University in the fall.
Konyn says she is convinced she made the right decision to come halfway across the country to attend college at UW-Madison, and wants to make Wisconsin or the Midwest her permanent home. Upon completion of her master’s program, she hopes to begin a career as a nutritionist.
“I wouldn’t change a thing for the world,” she says of her decision to attend UW-Madison. “I’ve really had the opportunity to see what Wisconsin has to offer from the dairy industry perspective. I think the thing I love the most about Wisconsin is the welcoming aspect. The people here have helped solidify for me wanting to come back to the Midwest to pursue my career.”
Olson says he enjoys sitting down with each of the students and understanding why they are investing their time and energy into dairy judging.
“For some of the students, dairy judging is a passion,” he says. “For others, they might want to work on their public speaking skills or time management. Everyone has a different starting point and maybe what they deem as a success. Sometimes when things are so competitive, you lose sight of the broader educational opportunities.
“It’s a lot of the life skills that really come through in these students – how to effectively convey your point in a very succinct and logical order. Those types of communication skills are useful in pretty much any facet of life after college.”