Baumangarners fair showmanship

WISCONSIN VALLEY FAIR

Town of Wien farmer has overall grand champion dairy showmanship heifer Sassy

Town of Wien dairy farmer Korbyn Bauman, 18, was pleasantly surprised he won the best overall grand champion dairy showmanship award on Thursday while showing his black and white Holstein spring yearling heifer, Sassy, at the Wisconsin Valley Fair in Wausau.

“At first I was in shock, but once it hit me it was a great feeling,” he said with Sassy in the cow barn at the fair on Friday morning. “I was confident I’d get the job done but I just didn’t think it would already happen this year. Sassy really surprised me on Thursday.”

Korbyn Bauman began training Sassy in the middle of June to show her at the Wisconsin Valley Fair. He said the keys to having a strong showing in front of the judges is to set up the hind legs correctly for heifers to show judges what the udder will look like in the future and for cows to show their udders. He said it helps to smile while showing your animal to the judges, to let them know you are confident in your ability to show. He said it’s important to keep the animal’s head up but not too high during the showing for the judges.

Korbyn Bauman graduated from Edgar High School this spring but he can still show dairy heifers and cows at the Wisconsin Valley Fair next summer yet. While showing Sassy on Thursday, he also won best in his age group and best fit award. The most prized award, however, that he won is best overall grand champion.

He plans to one day take over owning and managing his family’s town of Wien dairy farm from his parents, Keith and Cassi Bauman. The Bauman’s have 65 milk cows and 15 dry cows, and they have 75 heifers. The family crops 300 acres of land.

“Working on my family’s dairy farm has grown on me, and I don’t know what I’d do if I wasn’t working on the dairy farm every day,” Korbyn Bauman said.