By MELISSA HART
Michigan Correspondent

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Traveling from dairy farm to farm looking at cows, taking notes, giving countless sets of oral reasons and placing in the top four at the nerve-wracking Rose Bowl of judging contests at World Dairy Expo has paid off for a group of young dairy enthusiasts in Michigan.
Dr. Joe Domecq will be taking 11 students – Jessica and Heather Fry, Ashley Messing, Bill Huisjen, Greg Thon, Andre Bruinsma, Nichole Smith, Gail Carpenter, Amanda Solman, Emily Butcher and Amanda Zwagerman, his coveted 4-H and Michigan State University Ag Tech dairy judging teams – across the pond to compete and enjoy a trip to the European Agricultural Tour this June.
“This is a really great trip for the kids who have worked hard and done well in judging,” Domecq said. “We’ve taken a group before and they had a great time traveling around and learning about the dairy industry in Europe, and I know this group will enjoy this as well; plus, they really deserve this trip.”
The top three placing teams at the dairy judging contest at World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wis., are invited to this exclusive tour each year. Because the third-place team declined the invitation, the fourth-place team from MSU stepped in to take advantage of the opportunity.
Messing, of Bad Axe, Mich., is excited about the opportunity and gave an outline of the trip, from June 18-29.
“We are not only going to get to experience the European family farm life by staying at family farms, but we will also get to judge at the Scottish Highland Show, where we may even get to help out with the show cattle,” she said.
“Then we get to do the tourist kind of stuff, like seeing the changing of the guard in London, and we will also be touring Paris and Luxembourg and several other places.”
Fundraising coordinator and parent of two of the youth, Cathy Fry of Blanchard, Mich., has been busy procuring funds for the trip. “I’ve never done this kind of fundraising before, but people have been very generous to the kids and have really stepped up to help them out,” she said.
Michigan Holstein District VII has hired the group to take care of its cattle for the district sale and the District VII junior members are donating their concession profits from the sale to the group, as well. At the Michigan Holstein Spring Show and Sale, the group will have several items of farm memorabilia up for a silent auction, including a true type Holstein model cow and an antique butter churn from the Carlos Long collection, donated by Jersey breeder Greg Palen of Ovid, Mich., who purchased the item at the recent Great Lakes Regional Dairy Conference.
They will also be selling a framed Bonnie Mohr print of the seven dairy breeds and six embryos donated by Green Meadows Farms from Green Meadow Ashlynne-ET VG-86 by Stormin’ Norman as a live auction item before the Michigan Holstein Spring Foundation Sale.
The Michigan Jersey Assoc. has pledged to donate one percent of its sales from the Michigan Jersey Sale, to be held at the MSU Pavilion on March 29. Jim VanBuskirk of JVB Red Hot Jerseys, Monroe, Mich., said he would donate five percent of the sales of his consignments to the effort, while challenging the Jersey and Holstein consignors to do the same.
“All the money raised is going only for this Europe trip and will be split evenly among the kids going on the trip,” Fry said. “We are very excited and just want to thank everyone who has been so generous in making monetary donations, items for auctions and have been so supportive to the kids.”
For more information about the trip or to make a monetary donation, contact Fry at 989-866-2313 or e-mail her at mistymorndairy@power-net.net