MONROE - There were winners and perhaps losers, but the cows didn't seem to mind at the annual Cheese Days milking contest Saturday afternoon.
The short period of light rain during the popular event didn't deter any of the maestro milkers. It certainly didn't hold back spectators, who roused the milkers with chants of "squeeze, squeeze, squeeze."
The crowd in front of the post office watched as more than 25 teams competed to milk the most out of the 12 cows brought in by area farmers. Dan Blum and Pam Wyss emceed the event and Randy Wyss marked each competitor's milk bucket by asking if they had enough for a bowl of cereal.
Pam Wyss also peppered her presentation with facts about dairy. "Ninety percent of Wisconsin milk is made into cheese and 90 percent of that cheese is sold outside the U.S.," she said.
She also said the milking contest, which has been a Cheese Days staple since 1970, used to be hosted on the Courthouse lawn.
The Green County royalty, which included King and Queen Duke and Diane Phillips, ambassadors Sarah Sacker and Breinne Hendrickson and Prince and Princess Elsen Gratz and Christina Grenzow dressed in Swiss garments - got down and milked too.
"You couldn't find a better dressed group to sit under a cow," Randy Wyss said of the royalty.
Mayor Bill Ross, county board supervisor chair Art Carter and the reigning champion milker Suzanne Rohloff came out the winners over the royalty, thanks in large part to Rohloff's speed milking. She brought in her own tin bucket and after transferring it to the plastic ice cream containers the other contestants were using, her team's outweighed everyone else's.
The cows had to be cycled out after about every round because their hooves get sore on pavement. There were Ayrshires, Holsteins, Brown Swiss, Guernsey and a Jersey cow that were all docile and happy. Pam Wyss said most of the cows skipped their morning milking to be full for the competition.
She said this is likely the last year she will be organizing the milking contest, a job she's volunteered to do since 2002.
"It's time to pass on the pail, so to speak," she said.
The short period of light rain during the popular event didn't deter any of the maestro milkers. It certainly didn't hold back spectators, who roused the milkers with chants of "squeeze, squeeze, squeeze."
The crowd in front of the post office watched as more than 25 teams competed to milk the most out of the 12 cows brought in by area farmers. Dan Blum and Pam Wyss emceed the event and Randy Wyss marked each competitor's milk bucket by asking if they had enough for a bowl of cereal.
Pam Wyss also peppered her presentation with facts about dairy. "Ninety percent of Wisconsin milk is made into cheese and 90 percent of that cheese is sold outside the U.S.," she said.
She also said the milking contest, which has been a Cheese Days staple since 1970, used to be hosted on the Courthouse lawn.
The Green County royalty, which included King and Queen Duke and Diane Phillips, ambassadors Sarah Sacker and Breinne Hendrickson and Prince and Princess Elsen Gratz and Christina Grenzow dressed in Swiss garments - got down and milked too.
"You couldn't find a better dressed group to sit under a cow," Randy Wyss said of the royalty.
Mayor Bill Ross, county board supervisor chair Art Carter and the reigning champion milker Suzanne Rohloff came out the winners over the royalty, thanks in large part to Rohloff's speed milking. She brought in her own tin bucket and after transferring it to the plastic ice cream containers the other contestants were using, her team's outweighed everyone else's.
The cows had to be cycled out after about every round because their hooves get sore on pavement. There were Ayrshires, Holsteins, Brown Swiss, Guernsey and a Jersey cow that were all docile and happy. Pam Wyss said most of the cows skipped their morning milking to be full for the competition.
She said this is likely the last year she will be organizing the milking contest, a job she's volunteered to do since 2002.
"It's time to pass on the pail, so to speak," she said.