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The right fit: As Morrisons Cove Dairy Show marks 75 years, professional fitter gets cows looking their best

By Jayla Nartatez 4 min read

Before cows are ready to be shown in competition, farmers maintain their animals in a variety of ways to keep them healthy and strong. At the Morrisons Cove Dairy Show, a local resident has turned her experience caring for animals into a business as a professional fitter, helping a local farmer prepare their dairy cows for the show.

For most of her life, Joan Seidel has been taking care of cattle and now, she travels across the country to trim, clip, feed, wash and milk dairy cattle for farmers. When she was younger, Seidel also showed dairy cattle in 4-H and spent time working on different dairy farms.

During the Morrisons Cove Dairy Show, Seidel works for Snyder Homestead to get their 14 dairy cows "looking their best" before they are shown. She has been working for the farm for over 16 years and said she enjoys attending the shows to prepare the animals and build friendships.

"We're very fortunate to have her come and fit our cows for us," said Berneta Gable, owner of Snyder Homestead. "She's at the top of the game as a fitter."

With clients all over the country, Seidel said farmers hire her because they can't always take the time off to go to a show and leave their farm for several days. When hiring Seidel, she'll travel to farms and shows to do everything she can to help prepare the dairy cattle and show off their characteristics.

"I do it all the time," she said. "I know the best way to get the cows ready for the judge to judge them."

During a show, dairy cows are judged on type and build, meaning judges are looking for an athletic looking cow rather than a heavy or skinny cow, according to Tyler Peachey, dairy show judge.

For Tuesday's show, the dairy cows were judged while the youth showmen and women were judged Monday on showmanship. "A good showman helps make the animal look better," said Peachey, who's been judging for 10 years.

For 75 years, the Morrisons Cove Dairy Show has brought out some of the top local dairy cattle and highlighted the area's agriculture industry. This year, there are 155 dairy cattle of different breeds at the show and a variety of other exhibits including flowers and vegetables.

Melissa Benfer, dairy show secretary, showed dairy cattle growing up and so did her children. She said it's great seeing people show their animals and watching the younger generation enjoy the same thing her kids enjoyed.

One of her favorite things about the annual dairy show is seeing the kids from the Morrisons Cove Memorial Park pool come and look around at all the animals. She said these kids don't typically have an agricultural background and love experiencing the event.

After swimming at the pool, Will Grace and his young daughter walked up to the dairy show to look at the calves. He said his daughter was curious about the animals and he thought it was important for her to see where some of their produce and dairy products come from.

The dairy show continues through Friday, Benfer said, noting that people should come out to support farmers and agriculture because "agriculture is what feeds the world, what supplies the world, is where our clothing comes from and is what we eat."

Today at 7 p.m., the dairy show is holding a pie and ice cream festival that the public can attend. Picnic tables will be set up for people to sit and enjoy their dessert. Each slice of pie is $4 and Ritchey's ice cream will also be sold.

"We're celebrating 75 years of making this all happen," Benfer said.

Mirror Staff Writer Jayla Nartatez is at 814-946-7535.

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