Emma Vos, Maribel, Wis., has been selected as the 2023 recipient of the Fred Stout Experience Award.
The fund supporting this award was created in 2000 in memory of Fred J. Stout Sr., Mt. Carmel, Ill., a lifelong Jersey breeder and member of the Jersey Marketing Service (JMS) staff from 1978 to 1997. Stout was instrumental in the growth of JMS marketing activities, and later added duties as a type evaluator and in customer field service for the American Jersey Cattle Association.
Stout believed that the best learning experiences happen in the everyday world. This award honors that conviction by providing financial support for two paid internships each year, one on-farm and the other with JMS. In 2023, only the JMS experience will be utilized.
Emma will work this summer with JMS. She will assist with the preparation, staging and wrap-up work for the company’s public auctions, online and private treaty sales, including the 66th National Heifer Sale, June 23 in La Crosse, Wis. She will also shadow an AJCA area representative and help with producing videos of the animals ahead of the sale and gain hands-on experience with the type traits appraisal program.
She is a student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison majoring in agricultural business management. Emma is a member of the university’s dairy club where she serves as secretary and sale chair for the Badger Invitational. She is also involved in Collegiate Farm Bureau and the Association of Women in Agriculture on campus.
Outside of school Emma is active on her family’s Jersey farm—Proud Heritage Jerseys. She also has worked as a herdsperson at a Holstein dairy gaining experience.
Emma is an accomplished judge having been a member of the winning 4-H team at World Dairy Expo in 2021. She received All-American honors by placing in the top 25. She represented Wisconsin in the National Jersey Queen Contest and finishing in the top five.
For more information on the Stout Experience visit the USJersey website. Deadline for applicants is December 1, 2023.
Previous recipients of the Fred Stout Experience Award are Tara Bohnert, Illinois (2003); Allison Waggoner, South Carolina (2004); Dan Bauer, Wisconsin (2005); Aaron Horst, Pennsylvania (2006); Jacob Pieper, Maryland (2007); Katie Albaugh, Maryland (2008); Brady Core, Kentucky (2009); Ivy Roberts, Florida, and Kim Wilson, Missouri (2010); Amy Maxwell, Iowa, and Joseph Fjarlie, Wisconsin (2011); Robert McGarry, Vermont, and Lyman Rudgers, New York (2012); Meagan Bolen, Ohio, and Wyatt Smith, Minnesota (2013); Meagan Chittenden, New York, and Olivia Pearson, North Carolina (2014); Gerret Boer, Texas, and Tyler Stiles French, South Carolina (2015); and Laura Bell, Tennessee, and Austin Woods, Wisconsin (2016); Tyler Kirchdoerfer, Missouri and Blake Koehn, Oklahoma (2017); Amanda LoRusso, Connecticut (2018); Brennan Topp, Ohio; Abigail Grimm, Minnesota (2019); Hannah Diehl, Pennsylvania (2020); Elizabeth Gross, Pennsylvania, and Meghan Hettinga, Iowa (2021); Jayme Ozburn, Tennessee and Maria Joy Poock, Missouri.
