MONROE — As a young girl, Madison Katzenberger met the then-National Hereford Queen, the face of the breed across the country, at a cattle show. Immediately the interaction changed the course of her life.

“I got to talk to her and I was just in awe,” said Madison, a 2018 Monroe High School graduate. “I was 8, and my sight was set on being queen right from then.”

On Oct. 23, 2022, she became the newest National Hereford Queen herself at the American Royal Livestock Show in Kansas City, Missouri. Madison is the third Wisconsinite to be named National Queen, joining Katy Beckett in 1989 and Annah Dobson in 2016. She will represent the Hereford breed at shows, sales, and events across the nation.

The National Hereford Queen program is sponsored by the National Hereford Women organization, which began in 1955. The National Hereford Queen Program selects queens from each state, with one eventually selected to be the national queen, thus representing the breed across the country while donning a white dress, boots, sash and crown. Herefords are a British breed of beef cattle, native to Herefordshire in England, but since 1817 has spread to more than 50 nations worldwide. 

Katzenberger graduated college a semester early from UW-Platteville in 2021, majoring in Animal Science with a minor in Spanish. She is the daughter of Wisconsin Hereford Association members Eric and Rosie Katzenberger. She wasted little time before hitting the road.

First, she went to Louisville, Kentucky, then traveled across the Rocky Mountains to Reno, Nevada. She has two more events coming up in January. In July, she will be at the Junior Nationals event in Madison. She also expects to be at the local Green County Fair, as well as an upcoming Green County Beef Producers event. She was the Green County Beef Producer’s Queen in high school.

When she goes to a show, she walks in every class, setting them up for the judges. Then, depending on the show, she hands out ribbons to the champions. Afterwards she travels to the different barns and social gatherings to talk with the breeders and showers, getting to know them.

She prepared for the role not just by studying up for the test and interview, but a lifelong love of agriculture — especially the animals within the industry. That love started from her very own home.

The Katzenberger family has long been involved with Herefords. In 1978, Plum River Ranch was born, a ranch on just 15 acres of property outside of Pearl City where Madison’s great-grandfather, Harold, once lived. Madison’s father, Eric, and his brother Aaron began to show, and by the time they left for college the herd of about 10 head were dispersed. In 1996, Eric, Aaron and their father, Nick, began to rebuild the herd, which currently sits around 80 head, according to their ranch’s website. They now have cattle in both Pearl City and Monroe. 

“Growing up, my parents were a huge influence,” Madison said. 

Madison and her siblings, Briana and Rhett, were introduced to the animals and showing at a young age. They began with the Hereford Junior Nationals in 2005 in Milwaukee and went on for 17 years, with Madison representing the final showing this past summer.

Growing up, she was a member of the Young Americans 4-H Club as a child, and later joined FFA in high school. Madison is currently serving as the 2022 Wisconsin Hereford Queen and is the President of the Wisconsin Junior Hereford Association.  

“My FFA adviser, Danielle Pernot, really helped me love ag and encouraged me to pursue this. Then in college, my professors and advisors kept me interested,” she said. “It set me up for the future. I knew I wanted to do something in ag when I grew up, especially something with animal science.”

When she was in kindergarten, she wanted to be a veterinarian, but then became interested in the breeding realm of the industry. She also was a three-sport athlete in school and dreamed of maybe being a professional athlete. “But if I went pro, how could I watch my herd?”

Having her own herd of Herefords has long been a dream of hers. For now, she works as a Laboratory Technician of Embryology at Boviteq in Madison, which calls itself a world leader in developing and implementing new techniques for embryo transfer. She said she still wants to have her own herd, and has a couple of cattle from her parents’ herd she wants for her own. 

“I told them not to sell them — I’m going to need them,” she quipped.