For those reading the daily convention newsletter, we found a Peach Kuchen recipe online and thought we””d publish it by popular demand. The dessert that tour goers enjoyed at Randy & Diane Schweer”’’s Watertown Holsteins, was by far, not the recipe that we shared in the newsletter.

Here is the official, real-deal, absolutely delicious recipe that you have been searching for!
Peaches ””n Cream Kuchen
Diane Schweer, Watertown, SD
Crust: 1 1/8 c. flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
1 lg. box cooked vanilla pudding
4 1/2 T. butter
2 eggs
3/4 c. milk

Filling: 2 8oz. pkg. cream cheese
2 15oz. cans sliced cling peaches or apricots, drained
1 c. sugar
8 T. reserved peach or apricot liquid

Topping: 1 1/2 T. sugar
3/4 tsp. cinnamon

Beat all crust ingredients for 2 minutes at medium speed with electric mixer. Pour into greased 9×13″ pan. Drain fruit (1 can apricots may be substituted) reserving liquid. Lay slices over crust leaving 1″ around sides of pan. Combine cream cheese, sugar & reserved liquid. Beat 2 minutes. Spoon over fruit & crust. Sprinkle topping mixture over filling. Bake 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. Serves 15.

In yesterday’s post I shared some of the competition results from this year’s National Junior Holstein Convention.  One event that I wasn’t quite ready to post the results from (because I was missing a couple placings) was the speaking contest.

A highly competitive contest that is full of talent, the speaking contest awards those Junior members that are both knowledgable in the Holstein and dairy industries while also being well versed and able to communicate our important message to others.  Congratulations to this year’s winners, we look forward to hearing more from you in the future!

Senior
1st Emily Miller - OR
2nd Jessica Berg - SD
3rd John Mitchell - IL

Intermediate
1st David Jones - CA
2nd Nancy Jackson - MO
3rd - Carolyn Braun - NY

Junior
1st Katelyn Mohr - MN
2nd Logan Moore - MD
3rd Sara Kitchen - PA

Good Morning all bloggers! 

During converstation at the 121st National Holstein Convention, The Holstein World staff learned that SCOTT CULBERTSON of Select Sires was at one time an English major while in college.  From our understanding, there might be more than one correct answer to our first trivia question.  We appreciate your responses and look forward to more reader participation.  

Stay tuned to All Breeds Blog for more interesting tidbits and entertaining industry information!

Sixty-Four lots averaged $6780 on a mild evening in Sioux Falls on Saturday.  The sale was held in a bright and attractive venue at the Sioux Empire Fairgrounds.  Look for more details and photos on Tuesday!

And what a great one it was!  South Dakota Holstein breeders” were wonderful hosts and the many compliments from convention goers show how impressed they were.  The hotel and convention headquarters were so convenient being so close together, and in close proximity to the jr headquarters just across the street.  Not to mention both hotels were very nice and the food at every meal was superb (especially the desserts:). 

Karen mentioned the exciting dairy bowl results earlier so I thought I”d follow up in this blog with some of the other junior awards that were given at the Saturday afternoon Jr Awards Banquet.  More detailed convention information will be published in the August Holstein World.  Here’’s what I have right now:

NHWSO Scholarship Winners

John Mitchell, IL; Annie Specht, OH; Laura Leazer, IA; Sonya Galley, NY; Esther Rupp, OH; Krista Sheehan, MN

Dairy Challenge

Sr: 1-MN #2; 2-IN; 3-UT

Jr: 1-MN #2; 2-KS; 3-UT

Dairy Bowl

Sr. Sportsmanship: WA

Jr. Sportsmanship: NC

Scrapbook Contest

1-IA; 2-MO; 3-MN; 4-PA; 5-CA

Banner

1-IL; 2-MD

Young Distinguished Junior Members

Alisa Arata, CA; Maureen Lee, WI; Danielle Brown, WI; Kevin Shaffer, PA; Christopher Potts, VA; Mark Simon, IA; Jarrett Remsburg, MD

Distinguished Junior Member Finalists

Laura Leazer, IA; T. Jason Ewing, MO; Casey Rickeman, MN; Krista Sheehan, MN; Joe Sarbacker, WI; Julie Drendel, IL

Congratulations to all of this year’’s winners! 

 SOS

It was a clean sweep for the Iowa Junior and Senior Dairy Bowl teams this morning!  The tension was high as the junior team won two rounds against Florida, to only tie in the second round and emerge victorious from a 5-question bonus round.  The seniors also won two rounds to defeat Pennsylvania in another nail-biting competition.  It was a fantastic culmination of junior competitions this week - well played by all teams!

Retiring JAC member Rissa Mitchell and Tim Perotti served as dairy bowl judge and score keeper respectively.  The timed they have served the junior association is admired by all!

Through our conversation with convention attendees, the Holstein World staff members learned a very interesting tidbit of information from a industry friend.  So…here is the first ever All Breeds Blog Trivia Question!  Please send us your guess and we will reveal the correct answer following convention.

Trivia Question #1

Which Select Sires staff member was at one time an English major while attending college?

Besides the important business of elections and other matters being attended to by the delegates today, one of the highlights of the week will take place tonight as the South Dakota Nationals Sale is held.  Activities begin at 5 pm with the pre-sale meal.  Just as with the South Dakota Futures held this week, the sale will feature a unique bidding format as bidders will be able to bid in real time and see the entire sale on the internet.  For the Futures, over 100 bidders registered to bid in this manner off-site.  Many bids were entered, with one lot ultimately sold to an internet bidder.  Tune in to www.holsteinworld.com and the All-Breeds Blog for details as soon as they become available!

For those of you unable to attend Tour B during Host Day this week, you missed an awesome day!  Not only was the drive north on I-29 absolutely beautiful, it is teeming with agriculture…not something that this New Yorker sees everyday!  I can tell you that our stop at Sipka Holsteins was almost like a visit to Canada itself!  The newly renovated dairy barn, that used to be a hog barn, is almost two years old now.  Tiestalls are 5′ x 6.5′ for the massive cows that the Post family has….and those cows fill the large stalls completely.  With lots of hay piled in front, also a good Canadian sign, the cows were extremely comfortable on their water mattresses.  Sires included Linjet, Integrity, Citamatt, Ultimate, Counselor and Warden.

Prairie Gold, a 15-month old facility that’s completely full with 3,600 cows is quite impressive in its own right.  With 5% registered Holsteins on the farm, Randy and Jennifer Gross have their hands full developing the registered herd, while also managing 28 full time employees.  “From a labor standpoint, we chose to farm in the I-29 corridor because we knew we could get quality help.  There’s also a tremendous amount of great feed produced in this area, as well as a strong milk market,” explained Randy. 

The Ranch Rodeo in Freeman, South Dakota  held on Wednesday was enthusiastically attended by Holstein enthusiasts and encompassed many of the typical activities involved with working cattle on a western ranch including sorting, working, roping, and trailering, as well as a fun-filled event called “mutton-bustin””” that was a favorite of the children who participated and the specators as well!  A warm afternoon made the treat of ice cream appreciated even more by the audience. 

A traditional  “Schmeckfest”  or “Festival of Taste” was held prior to the rodeo also in Freeman and featured a traditional German ethnic meal. Some of the dishes included  Grune Schauble Suppe (Green Bean Soup), Damplfleisch (Stewed Beef), Sauerkraut, Zwieback (Twin Buns), and Kuchen (a desert somewhat reminiscent of pie)

The  Schmeckfest  was held on the Freeman Academy Campus and included a tour of the Heritage Hall Museum Complex consisting of a Pioneer Home, School, and Churches, and a breathtaking display of Plains Indian artifacts including exquisite beaded clothing and equipment used by the indians, as well as items used in every day pioneer life on the Plains.