2024 YOUTH AMBASSADOR:
Hannah Loftin
My name is Hannah Loftin; I am 20 years old and live in Troutman, North Carolina, where I have a small herd of mostly Brown Swiss show cows. I am a sophomore at the University of Mount Olive, studying to obtain two bachelor’s degrees, one in agriculture education and one in agriculture business. I plan to teach for a few years while working to open an interactive educational creamery.
I got my first Brown Swiss heifer for my fourteenth birthday; it was love at first sight. Muffin (my heifer) and I could have struggled through our first year of learning how to show, but we didn’t, thanks to help from everyone who taught me so much.
Fast forward to a few years later, when things fell into place, and I met this great family interested in showing. I was grateful for the opportunity that I was given and wanted to give them the same. So, I found a heifer for them to use, and I taught them everything they needed to know, showmanship, how to feed their animals, how to halter break a calf, and how to wash a calf. These two kids turned into others wanting to show and needing help from the ground up, but it also turned into other youths already in the show world that just wanted some help. Whether in showmanship, fitting, or general assistance, they, for some reason, decided I was the best person to ask. I am very grateful that these children have chosen me to look up to because while I am helping them grow, they are helping me grow.
I have been blessed to reach a few of the goals I set early in my show career. First, I have been able to show on the colored shaving at World Dairy Expo thanks to some fantastic people willing to take a risk on a girl from a small town in North Carolina. But it gets better from there; this past November, I took one of my bred and owned Brown Swiss heifers to show at NAILE. I never thought I would be able to do this, but I proved myself wrong, and that little heifer and I didn’t come in last either. I also competed in the dairy Judging contest last fall at WDE. I am very grateful for all the opportunities that little Swiss calf from 2017 has given me. You never know what opportunities you will stumble upon if you are willing to try.
2024 Alternate Youth Ambassador:
Isabella Wilbur
My name is Isabella Wilbur, and I am currently a senior at Middlebury Union High School. I am attending the Vermont State University at Castleton for a semester of early college. I reside in Orwell, Vermont, with my family on our organic dairy farm. We milk 45 dairy cows that consist of Jerseys, Brown Swiss, Lineback, Milking Shorthorn, and Ayrshires. Our farm used to be mainly Jersey cows but as I became more interested in showing, the breeds on the farm expanded.
When I was twelve years old, I received my first Brown Swiss calf for Christmas. This started my involvement in 4-H and Brown Swiss activities. Since then, I have made my own herd of Brown Swiss, Jersey, Ayrshire, and Lineback cows with my brothers under the prefix IBG Genetics. We have shown at all of the local and state shows for the past couple years and been successful. In the past two years, we started showing regionally. The Brown Swiss junior activities that I have participated in are the Vermont State Brown Swiss show 3 years in a row, bell-ringer contest, and Northeast All-Breeds Spring Show Brown Swiss class. I hope to participate in more junior activities through the Brown Swiss Association this year.
I am planning to attend Cornell University in the fall for Animal Science with a focus in Dairy Management. With this degree, I plan to come back to the farm and continue what my parents started. This opportunity will open up new pathways to better the farm and make a better ecological footprint.