EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Scoring a perfect 50 in oral reasons is the pinnacle accomplishment that young judges aspire to earn in dairy cattle or livestock evaluation contests, but it's one that few ever achieve - especially at a national contest.

Amanda Sollman, animal science senior from Brown City, Mich., is now a member of this exclusive club. She earned a perfect score of 50 from the Ayrshire judge at the 2009 national intercollegiate dairy cattle judging contest held during World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wis., in early October.

Sollman wasn't the only "big talker" on this year's Michigan State University college dairy judging team: Emily Butcher, agriculture and natural resources communications junior from Owosso, Mich., earned two 49-point scores, one in the Holstein class and one in the Red and White dairy cattle class.

Butcher's oral reasons scores contributed to her third place score in the Red and White dairy cattle breed and fifth place in the Holstein class. She was also 11th in the Ayrshire breed, 20th in Brown Swiss and eighth in the Guernsey breed. Butcher finished 14th overall in the contest and was 22nd in oral reasons.

Sollman took the 12th highest individual score for oral reasons, second place in the Ayrshire breed and 16th place in the Guernsey class.

Other members of the MSU team were Rosemary Rice, animal science senior from Filion, Mich., and Melissa Brower, an animal science junior from Jamestown, Mich. Rice finished 12th in Brown Swiss.

As a team, MSU placed second in the Ayrshire breed, fifth in Brown Swiss and Guernseys, sixth in Holsteins and fourth in Red and White dairy cattle. MSU was 10th overall and ninth in oral reasons. The MSU collegiate dairy judging team is coached by Joe Domecq, specialist in the MSU Department of Animal Science.

A total of 19 teams competed in the 2009 National Intercollegiate Dairy Cattle Judging Contest. This year's winning team was from Virginia Tech. The highest placing individual was Sandra Kirchner from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.

World Dairy Expo is an international dairy event. It includes an industry trade show, national dairy cattle shows and sales, youth judging contests, virtual farm tours and educational programs. Total attendance for this year's weeklong event was 64,796, which included 2,551 international guests representing 91 countries. Shows were held for seven dairy breeds.

Sponsors for the MSU and Michigan 4-H dairy judging programs are ABS Global, Inc.; NorthStar Cooperative; the Michigan Holstein Association; the Michigan District 1 and District 6 Holstein Associations; the Michigan Jersey Cattle Club; the United Dairy Industry of Michigan; the Michigan Milk Producers Association and the Michigan Dairy Memorial Foundation.

For more information about the MSU and Michigan 4-H dairy judging programs, contact Domecq at domecqjo@msu.edu or call (517) 353-7855.

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