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Showing Dairy Cattle leads Van Schyndle to National Competition
Payton
Payton Van Schyndle has been to many places during her young life to show cattle, but it was only recently that her showmanship skills earned her recognition at the 90th State FFA Convention as the 2019 Dairy Handling Career Development Event (CDE) first-place winner.
“It means a lot to be receiving this award,” says Payton, a student at Cuba City High School and currently the Vice-President of the Cuba City FFA Chapter. FarmFirst Dairy Cooperative sponsored this year’s Dairy Handling CDE Award.
As a contestant in the Dairy Handling CDE, Payton was given the task to select a heifer she believed to be among the top of the class for her dairy qualities and then lead the heifer around the showring. From there, the top contestants were brought back to the showring and given a different cow to lead to show how diverse their show handling skills are. Lastly, a written exam focused on each contestant’s knowledge of dairy completed the competition.
For Payton Van Schyndle, showing dairy cattle has been a lifelong passion for her and her family.
“Even before I could walk, I was out in the barn. My parents had a little swing out there so I could be with them and the cows while they were milking,” says Payton. “I grew up going to dairy shows with my parents and ever since I could walk, I have always been working with show heifers and cows. I remember my first calf that I got to show was when I was three years old. My dad got me a jersey calf so that I had something little for me to show.”
Showing cattle is truly a family affair for Payton, as her parents and grandparents have been active in showing well before she was born and have always supported her interest to show livestock. Being around dairy cows and attending dairy shows sparked her desire to join in the fun at a young age, despite her small stature.
“One time my dad asked me to go put the halter on a heifer I was going to practice leading. She was laying down at the time, and I had tried and tried to get her up to go walk and lead her, but she wouldn’t budge. I was pretty little at the time that I ended up sitting on her and she still hadn’t moved,” recalls Payton.
Her interest in showing only grew from there, eventually learning to also show and lead sheep through a program her mom helped initiate to help others become interested in caring for, handling and leading livestock.
Payton has earned many awards and high placings for her skills in the showring, taking her to local fairs and across the country as far as Arizona and Denver. Among these adventures, she’s made many friends along the way, including people from Canada.
“I feel really lucky when I think about it,” says Payton. “It’s a really cool opportunity to attend these different shows and to see all these places. It’s a really great experience and I’ve learned so much from participating in these shows and meeting so many new people.”
Her experience is now taking her to the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis this October where she’ll compete for national recognition in Dairy Handling. Where will she go from there?
“I would love to attend UW-Madison or Iowa State and major in dairy science and minor in agribusiness. I hope to become a Holstein classifier someday,” says Payton. “I originally wanted to be a nutritionist and then a sire analyst, and now a Holstein classifier… regardless of what it is I will become, I know it will involve dairy. It’s always been something with dairy.”
The article was written by Julie Sweney at FarmFirst Dairy Cooperative, a proud sponsor of the CDE – Dairy Handling Award during the Wisconsin State FFA Convention. FarmFirst Dairy Cooperative is a test verification cooperative, focused on providing legislative and regulatory advocacy, dairy marketing services, disaster protection, laboratory testing opportunities and industry promotion for Midwest dairy farmers. Learn more about FarmFirst Dairy Cooperative by visiting www.FarmFirstDairyCooperative.com.
The article was written by Julie Sweney at FarmFirst Dairy Cooperative, a proud sponsor of the CDE – Dairy Handling Award during the Wisconsin State FFA Convention. FarmFirst Dairy Cooperative is a test verification cooperative, focused on providing legislative and regulatory advocacy, dairy marketing services, disaster protection, laboratory testing opportunities and industry promotion for Midwest dairy farmers. Learn more about FarmFirst Dairy Cooperative by visiting www.FarmFirstDairyCooperative.com.