The Queen’s Corner, by Kayla Cring

Queen’s Corner By Kayla Cring

Hello everyone! Hope you are doing well! The show season is upon us and I could not be more excited! I am sure you are all working hard to get your cattle show ready for this year’s shows. I always love how competitive each show is. And I can’t wait to see you all!

In May I met a foreign exchange student all the way from France. His name is Julian and we got to talking about dairy cows and he was thrilled to hear that he could come visit the dairy. Once we got to the farm, he was shocked at how many Holsteins we had. He said the only dairy farm he had seen was next to his holiday house and they only had 10 cows. France has a rather large dairy industry. I did some research and found out their dairy industry offers around 250,000 jobs for them. Also, 60 percent of their dairy cows are Holsteins. Another interesting fact is they call them Prim’Holstein in France. Julian’s favorite part from the farm visit was milking a cow. He even enjoyed tasting the fresh warm milk!

Another opportunity I had this past May was speaking to 150 local 4th graders about the dairy industry. Almost 50 percent of the students have never seen a cow up close or touched one. I talked about the nutritional aspects of dairy products, the different breeds and various interesting facts about the industry. They all loved brushing and petting the calf that came to visit League Street Elementary. One girl asked if she could buy the calf while a few others asked if they could still join 4-H this year to show calves. Teaching the 4th graders about dairy cows was a great opportunity. I look forward to seeing you all at the district shows and the Ohio State Fair this summer.

Kayla enjoyed teaching 150 local fourth graders about the dairy industry.

During Kayla’s visit to the school, the fourth graders were able to pet a calf. By the time she was done, several students wondered how they could join 4-H and show cows. Julien, a foreign exchange student from France, was able to get up close and personal with cows when Kayla took him on a tour of the farm.