By: Johnny Morgan, jmorgan@agcenter.lsu.edu
FRANKLINTON — The fifth annual Florida Parishes Dairy Day proved to be a fun, community event for the young and not so young to show off their spirit of winning, with youth showing off their culinary and artistic skills, and farmers with high-yielding milk cows.
The day started early with the young people judging dairy cows and preparing dairy-themed dishes at the LSU AgCenter Southeast Research Station.
Dairy Day is time for the dairy farmers to show their appreciation to the local agribusinesses, suppliers and veterinarians who work with them throughout the year, said station director Charlie Hutchison.
“The dairy industry continues to decline in the state, with less than 80 active currently,” Hutchison said. “There were close to 400 dairies in the state just 10 years ago.”
Youth winners at this year’s event are:
Dairy cookery winners by division:
Appetizer — Joseph Bigelow, Ponchatoula High School.
Salad — Lana Cusick, Loranger Middle School.
Dessert — Chanie Hendry, Tangi youth club.
Main dish — Emalee McCain, Roseland Montessori School.
Dairy poster winners:
Fourth-grade division — Alani James, Loranger Elementary School.
Elementary division — Maya Kornick, Oaks Montessori School.
Junior high division — Colt Short, Loranger Junior High School.
Senior high division — Joseph Bigelow, Ponchatoula High School.
Alani James was the second place state winner in Division I of the dairy poster contest, and Joseph Bigelow was the third place winner in Division III.
In the youth dairy judging competition, Sajul Moneyhun, of Tangipahoa Parish, won first place; Brandtley Gill, of Tangipahoa Parish, won second place; and Colt Short, of Tangipahoa Parish, won third place.
In the adult dairy judging competition, Brad Toney, of Washington Parish, won first place; Floyd Terrebonne, of Tangipahoa Parish, won second place; and Cody Crowe, of Tangipahoa Parish, won third place.
The award that provides bragging rights for producers is the quality milk award. This year the gold winner was Dale Johnson. Silver winners were Austin Casanova, Talbert Crowe, John T. Faunce Jr., John G. Ingraffia Dairy, Matthew Ingraffia Dairy, Brent Simmons, Darrell Sinagra and Thibodeaux Dairy.
Other awards given include high cow award, high herd production plaques and certificates, and high cow certificates for non-Holsteins by parish.
Before Dairy Day moved to the research station, it rotated among various farms in three parishes with dairy production: St. Helena, Tangipahoa and Washington.