The Wisconsin Holstein Association strives to promote the Wisconsin Registered Holstein breed, as well as its breeders and owners. This promotion begins in the young people in this industry, and giving them every opportunity to reach their potential. To aid in the career education of our youth, WHA has developed the Youth Mentorship Program. Youth have the opportunity to visit volunteer hosts and learn a desired aspect of the business.
The following note is from Tiffany Langteau, a student at UW-River Falls studying Agriculture Education and Dairy Science. Tiffany had the chance to ride with a Holstein Association USA classifier, and came away with some excellent perspective:
"Hi everyone, my name is Tiffany Langteau and I am a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. My major is Agriculture Education and Dairy Science. I am getting to that age where everyone is asking me the same question; what do you want to be when you grow up? I have answered that question the same as I always have: I want to be a Holstein classifier. With that answer I tend to get blank looks or looks of amazement. After the blank looks, I get the question of what is or what does a Holstein classifier do. Coming from a registered dairy farm I thought I had a good idea of what the job entailed. After this summer I realized I had a lot to learn.
This summer I was very lucky to have the chance to job shadow one if the best in the business, Mr. Willis Gunst. Mr. Gunst was willing to let me tag along with him for three days and taught me a lot along the way. When I started this job shadowing I figured I knew what being a classifier was all about. I learned real quick that there is more to that job than meets the eye. To be a great classifier you have to be able to know the linear breakdown like you know the palm of your hand and to be able to break down that cow fast and correctly. I have judged cows for many years and having that experienced helped me a lot, but looking at these cows and being asked questions made me see things that I would normally overlook. Being able to pick out the strengths and weaknesses of a cow is pretty easy but deciding what strengths or weakness that helps her get that score is a bit more complicated. It amazed me that a cow could classify the same score but looked completely different from her stall mate.
Another thing that you have to be good at is explaining why you scored the cow the way you did, and do it so the farmer can clearly see where you are coming from. One of the main objectives of classifying is to help the farmer know what they have to work on with that cow and to know where she excels. You have to explain that very well or you have let the farmer down. Mr. Gunst is very good picking out the key traits and conveying to the breeder why he scored that girl the way he did.
If anyone is remotely interested in classifying I would very strongly advise taking advantage of this program put on by the Wisconsin Holstein Association. This experience showed me that this is what I want to do for a career. I have leaned a ton and can’t thank Holstein Association USA and the Wisconsin Holstein Association enough for making it possible for me and other youth to experience careers that we are interested in."
