More than 65,000 people from around the world are expected to flood Madison, Wis., to visit more than 2,000 dairy cows at the World Dairy Expo held Tuesday through Saturday.

Among those visitors are an ISU dairy judging team and a group of ISU alumni.

“It’s a dairy paradise,” said Erin Vagts, senior in public service and administration in agriculture.

Vagts serves as the ISU Dairy Science Club president, which will host a hospitality room for alumni Friday evening.

“We see it as an important way to keep in contact with alumni,” Vagts said. “We know the ones who farm, but we don’t always get to see the ones in business and industry. Those relationships could result in potential internships and jobs down the road.”

Vagts said she hopes to someday serve as the Iowa Secretary of Agriculture.

Other ISU students are advancing their careers through dairy judging experiences.

“Students learn to identify and select the type of cattle that will do well in the future,” said Lee Kilmer, professor of animal science. “More importantly, they develop communication skills as they learn to place cattle.”

Nine students competed in the World Dairy Expo Intercollegiate Judging Contest on Monday, kicking off the week’s attractions. In the competition, students evaluate groups of four animals and rank them based on characteristics that predict dairy efficiency.The animal’s udder, body frame, feet and legs are a few indicators that judges evaluate.

“Iowa State has competed in more national dairy competitions than any other team,” said Kilmer, who coaches the team.

This is Iowa State’s 84th contest. Iowa State is the only team that has competed every year since the contest began.

Kilmer said his team is young, but diligent. His senior team consists of two seniors and two juniors. The students have logged more than 280 hours this semester preparing for the contest, not to mention time they spent during the summer and previous experiences. Students at Iowa State can earn up to 6 academic credits over 3 years in dairy judging.

“This is the national intercollegiate dairy contest,” Kilmer said. “Others are regional competitions. We want to win it.”

Iowa State has won the contest 15 times since it began. The most recent victory was in 1974, and the team placed second in 1987.

Kilmer said the best part, though, is not winning, but rather watching his students become more confident and proficient in selection.

Lorilee Schultz, sophomore in agricultural business, said she is hopeful about another contest at the World Dairy Expo. Her grandfather’s cow, Roxy, has been nominated for the “Holstein World” magazine’s Queen of the Breed II Contest.

“The idea is to find a complete cow who has done well in the show ring but also great in the transmitting area,” Schultz said.

Roxy won the first Queen of the Breed contest in 1986.

“[Roxy] has been dead since 1984, but she was still nominated because she has had a lot of sons and daughters doing great things,” Schultz said.

Roxy has made the cut to the final 10, and people will continue to vote throughout the expo.

Schultz, who goes to her grandparent’s farm every other weekend, said she is excited to see the “best of the best” at the expo. She said even though there is friendly breed rivalry, “Most people can admire a good cow no matter what breed it is.”