The 2010 Superior Young Dairy Producer Award (SYDPA) program was held Aug. 21 at the Illinois State Fair. Twenty 4-H and/or FFA dairy project members from across the state took part in this educational activity that promotes both personal growth and career skill development for dairy industry youth in Illinois. This three-phase competition awarded each of the top five overall participants with a $1,000 scholarship. The 2010 scholarship recipients include Rick Koehn of Peotone, Haley Lyons of Rockford, Aaron Mitchell of Winnebago, Erik Sheppelman of Bloomington, and Jessica Telgmann of Strasburg.
The scholarships were sponsored by Archer Daniels Midland of Decatur. Individual plaques sponsored by the Land of Lincoln Purebred Livestock Breeders Association and the Illinois State Fair were awarded to the Top Three in each phase and the Top Five overall winners.
The first phase included a dairy management test on dairy nutrition, health, reproduction, milk marketing and other dairy-related information. The winners were Lyons, Mitchell and Sheppelman.
The second phase was a skill-a-thon on various topics in the dairy industry. Contestants had to identify dairy feeds, understand Dairy Herd Information Association (DHIA) records and identify dairy equipment. The top three contestants were Koehn, Sheppelman and Telgmann.
The third phase included a judging contest with four classes of dairy cows and two classes of heifers. The top three contestants were Tyler Carter of Greenville, Kaleb Hoerbert of Delavan, and Kohen.
This year marked the 15th consecutive year for the SYDPA program that has provided $75,000 in college scholarships to Illinois dairy youth since its inception. Participants must be 4-H or FFA dairy project members in Illinois. The program is developed and coordinated by Dave Fischer, retired University of Illinois Extension dairy educator.
—From University of Illinois news release
PHOTO:
Dairy industry youth compete for top honors at the Illinois State Fair. Left to right are Rick Koehn, Aaron Mitchell, Haley Lyons, Jessica Telgmann and Erik Sheppelman.
Photo by Dave Fischer, University of Illinois retired extension dairy educator
