BAXTER --The featured event of the June Dairy Month celebration Wednesday afternoon at Culver's in Baxter was a celebrity cow milking contest. However, the biggest celebrity there might have been a 5-day-old calf from B&C Dairy Farms in Fort Ripley.
The pint-sized calf was the subject of a naming contest, where participants were asked to submit names for the calf. The calf had many admirers who took turns petting him as he relaxed in the shade next to some hay bales.
State Sen. Carrie Ruud, R-Breezy Point, said her granddaughter wanted to name the calf Catherine, until she found out the calf was actually a male. She decided to change her submission to Henry, Ruud said.
Ruud took part in the celebrity cow milking contest, producing 0.1 ounces of milk. Dairy farmer Jenny Caughey took home the cow milking crown by producing 5 ounces of milk in 30 seconds of milking. She almost tripled the production of the second-place finisher, Eric Grant of KBLB 93.3 FM, who produced 1.75 ounces of milk.
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Klick! Photo Gallery - Dairy Days - 30 photos
June Dairy Days held at Culver's in Baxter (Steve Kohls, Brainerd Dispatch)
Klick here to view the gallery !
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Caughey is the mother of Crow Wing County dairy princesses Arica Caughey, 15, and Jenna Caughey, 14, and her milking experience extends back just two years. The Caugheys began their dairy operation, JenAric Dairy, because of their children's interest.
Caughey's milking technique, she said, was to treat the cow's teat like a balloon-pinching it near the udder and squeezing the teat from top to bottom.
B&C Dairy Farms also provided the cow for the celebrity cow milking contest, named Candy. After her 30 seconds of milking were up, Ruud joked about needing more time.
"I'm calling a special session," Ruud said.
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Others taking part in the cow milking contest included Hara Charlier, president of Central Lakes College; Keri Heintzeman, wife of state Rep. Josh Heintzeman, R-Nisswa; the Rev. Daniel Weiske of the Catholic Churches of St. Andrew and St. Mathias; Clayton Castle of Lakeland News; and Chelsey Perkins of the Brainerd Dispatch.
Grant took home first place in the straw bale toss with a throw of 312 inches, while Brainerd Dispatch reporter Spenser Bickett took second place with a toss of 268 inches. Ruud and Charlier also competed in the straw bale toss, which featured 14 participants.
Bickett was champion of the custard eating contest, by downing 8 ounces of custard in a little more than 30 seconds, all without using his hands. Bickett was the first to finish among Ruud, Weiske, Keri Heintzeman and Castle.
The event was put on by the Crow Wing County Dairy Association along with the Brainerd FFA and Crow Wing County Farm Bureau.
