WORLD DAIRY EXPO BOARD ELECTS LEADERS 

March 24, 2008

MADISON, WISCONSIN - World Dairy Expo’s Board of Directors elected eight individuals to the Executive Committee at their annual meeting, held March 18th at the Alliant Energy Center. Officers include: 

President:  Mike Holschbach, Heatherstone Enterprises, Inc., Baraboo

Vice President:  Phil Niemeyer, Nasco, Vice President, Fort Atkinson

Secretary/Treasurer:  Dean Hermsdorf, Vita Plus Corporation, Cottage Grove 

Also serving on the Executive Committee are:

John Dalton, Daltondale Farms, Hartland. Ray Kuehl, Purebred Breeders of World Dairy Expo, Waunakee; Roger Ripley Accelerated Genetics, Baraboo; Bill Barlass, Barlass Jerseys, Janesville; and  Bob Kaiser, University of Wisconsin Extension, Juneau.  World Dairy Expo General Manager, Mark Clarke and Will Hughes of the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection serve as ex-officio members of the Executive Committee. 

Holschbach succeeds Roger Ripley as president of the board.  Ripley, who is the President and CEO of Accelerated Genetics, has served on World Dairy Expo’s Board of Directors since 1985.  A member of the Executive Committee for 16 years, he served as board president for the past six years. 

Holschbach, of Baraboo, Wisconsin, has been on the World Dairy Expo Board since 1997, serving as an at-large representative.  He has been a Holstein exhibitor at the show since its beginning and has also served on the Dairy Cattle Exhibitors, Nominating and Education Committees as well as numerous sub-committees. 

An active member of the Holstein Association, he is a past recipient of the Wisconsin Holstein Association’s Younger Dairyman Award, and has served as a delegate to the National Holstein Convention.  He and his family, wife Valerie, son Chase and daughters Brienne and Chelsea, will host the 2008 National Convention Sale at their farm, Heatherstone Enterprises, Inc. this June. 

 He has provided leadership at the local level, having served as President of the Sauk County Holstein Association and serving as chairman of the county sale and district show.  In addition, Holschbach is a 20-year Sauk County 4-H dairy leader, and is a 4-H and FFA dairy judging coach.  He’s a member of the Baraboo High School Ag Advisory Board and has judged Holstein shows internationally, traveling to Italy, Mexico and Brazil.  

World Dairy Expo’s Dairy Cattle Show Committee also elected new leaders.  John Dalton, of Daltondale Farms in Hartland, will serve as chairman of the committee.  He succeeds David Selner of Shawano, who provided leadership to the committee for the past seven years.  Tom Morris of Tom Morris, Ltd, Amery, was elected Vice Chairman. 

The 2008-09 Commercial Exhibitor’s Committee Chairman is Dean Hermsdorf of Vita Plus Corporation and Craig Amici, representing The Coburn Company, Inc., Whitewater, serves as vice chairman. 

“Building Bridges, Making Connections” is the theme for World Dairy Expo 2008, which will take place Tuesday, September 30, through Saturday, October 4 at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Wisconsin. For more information, visit www.worlddairyexpo.com.

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