Ready, set, go.

The Melrose-Mindoro FFA went to Brillion on Nov. 8-9, 2008, for the Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin Conference Derby.

SunRay Dairy sponsored three interested dairy youth, which were Charmayne Anderson, Candace Anderson, and Valerie Ponterio.

On Nov. 8, they went on a tour to Holsum Dairies, a 6,700-cow dairy operation in Hilbert. At the farm, they had a rotary parlor and an anaerobic manure digester.

Another dairy farm they toured was Ran-Rose Farms, a 70-cow dairy operation in Reedsville. This farm has excellent genetics and high performance registered Holsteins. Ran-Rose has a tie-stall facility, where the cows were kept in for milking.

The last tour for the day was at the Land O’ Lakes Cheese Plant, where FFA members watched how cheese curds were made.

In addition to the tours, members also attended labs throughout the school. The labs consisted of learning about large animal veterinary science, artificial insemination and making cheddar cheese.

Charmayne, Ponterio and Candace said they had a lot of fun while learning about the world of the dairy industry.