Visitors devoured ice cream and cheese curds while auctioneers sold prize-winning bull semen and top breed calves at the Thursday kickoff for the 2005 World Dairy Expo held outside downtown Madison. Farmers and business representatives from over 70 countries met at the Alliant Energy Center.
Colorful paintings, statues and renderings of heifers signaled this year's theme, \The Art of Dairy."" Jim Doyle spoke to a large crowd before he introduced the Cow of the Year, a Brown Swiss from Wisconsin named Shatzi.
""We are incredibly proud of our dairy industry, which has been a part of the great culture and history of Wisconsin, and will be a great part of our future as well,"" Doyle said.
Stressing the importance of the dairy industry to the U.S. and global economy, Doyle thanked the men and women in attendance. ""We will always need good people to till the land and produce the food we all eat,"" he said.
The Expo showcases not only the buying and selling of dairy cows but also business innovations from all over the globe. Ranging from the latest maintenance hardware to artificial insemination and genetics technology, the Expo has something for everyone in the dairy business.
Wang Kai, a Shanghai businessman, explained how important the gathering was to the spread of information and technology. ""We want to look for more opportunities in the United States. There is a lot of new technology that we would like to introduce in China.""
""There are many countries represented, and we take the opportunity of meeting them here,"" said Rob Wills, a 15 year veteran of the festival representing the International Agriculture Technology Center, which specializes in the export of agricultural technology from the United Kingdom.
""It's a bit like the Mecca of dairy genetics for the whole world,"" Wills said. Entrance to the grounds costs $7 and the Expo runs through Sunday, Oct. 9.
