December 2012 graduate, Ohio State University
GENESIS intern with Genex
Based in Shawano, Wisconsin

Background
Q. What is your dairy or agricultural background?
I grew up raising livestock through 4-H and FFA and worked on two Ohio dairies during college.

Q. In what area did you obtain a degree?
I graduated with a bachelor’s degree of science in agriculture – my major being animal sciences with a meat science minor.

The personal stories and anecdotes of 12-year-old Maddie Cook have been read more than 4,500 times in about 40 countries around the world. This young blogger goes by the user name “Maddie Moo” online – and offline with her family and friends.

You may be wondering, “What makes her so interesting?” It’s simple: She has a remarkable amount of ambition to promote an industry that affects every human being on the planet – the dairy industry. Cows of every color are Maddie’s world.

I was riding on the back of a four-wheeler with the perfect cone-shaped volcanic Mt. Taranaki in the backdrop.

A Kiwi (New Zealander) farmer drove through his lush green pastures, and I listened as he describes each of his Ayrshire dairy cows to me.

This is one of many picturesque memories of my journey to learn more about the New Zealand dairy industry this past spring.

Hometown: Paris, Tennessee

My dairy background: I grew up on a 600-cow Holstein dairy owned and operated by my parents, Michael and Betsey Sumners. I am the second generation along with two of my sisters, Megan and Katherine.

Hometown: Sunnyside, Washington

My dairy background: I grew up around dairy cattle and the dairy industry through family associations. This contact with the industry inspired me, and I served as the 2010-2011 Yakima Valley Dairy Ambassador and as a Washington State Alternate Dairy Ambassador in 2012.

I am currently part of the Cooperative University Dairy Students (CUDS), where I co-manage a herd of 35 milking cows and an equal number of replacement heifers.

Hometown: Windthorst, Texas

My dairy background: I grew up on a small dairy farm that my parents built in north Texas. My brother, a fourth-generation dairyman, took over in 2007 and continues to milk there today. I help out on the dairy from time to time on my visits back home but am not as involved with the operation as I was in high school.

Hometown: Waddington, New York

My dairy background: I grew up working on my family’s dairy farm in Madrid, New York. The 40-cow farm was bought by my great-grandfather in 1946 and has been in the family ever since. The business is now operated by the third and fourth generations, including my mother.

There is also a dairy farm on my father’s side that was started by my great-grandfather. My uncles currently deliver bottled milk just as my great-grandfather had done.