Every fall, trailers loaded with dairy cattle roll into Madison from across the country, and for a few days the Alliant Energy Center becomes the unlikely center of the global dairy universe. This year is no different. The 59th World Dairy Expo opens its trade show, educational programming and cattle competitions Tuesday, Sept. 29, and runs through Friday, Oct. 2, at 1919 Alliant Energy Center Way.
The event's own organizers have long called it "the Super Bowl for cows," and the numbers back the boast. The trade show alone gathers more than 650 companies across the dairy spectrum — equipment, genetics, animal health, technology and services — while some 1,600 dairy cattle exhibitors bring animals to the New Holland Pavilions and the Cattle Tent. Seven nationally recognized breeds compete: Holstein, Jersey, Brown Swiss, Guernsey, Ayrshire, Milking Shorthorn and Red & White. The week crescendos Friday with the Parade of Champions and the crowning of the Supreme Champions.
But the story of how a Wisconsin show came to dominate a global industry begins more than half a century ago, with a group of producers who feared their region was about to be left behind.
By the early 1960s, the National Dairy Cattle Congress in Waterloo, Iowa, had long served as the premier national dairy show. Allen Hetts of Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, worried it was drifting toward becoming merely a regional event. According to a timeline published by Hoard's Dairyman, Hetts began quietly talking with interested parties as early as 1963 about establishing a new show in Wisconsin. The push gathered steam in 1966, when only the Milking Shorthorn breed still treated Waterloo as its national showcase. Hetts carried what the magazine described as the "We Need A Show" flag.
The result opened on Sept. 15, 1967 — a 10-day affair under a different name entirely: the World Food Exposition. It was staged by a newly created organization, the World Food and Agricultural Foundation. The first executive director was Bruce Walter of Chippewa Falls. An all-breed sale featuring donated calves and heifers earlier that year provided the seed money.
Some of the expo's most enduring symbols date to that inaugural run. A one-ton globe — two large semi-spherical silo roofs joined together — spun quietly throughout the first event and became an iconic Expo emblem. The University of Wisconsin-Madison's involvement also took root that year; by faculty lore, Dean Glenn Pound volunteered the entire dairy science faculty to serve as breed superintendents, with others helping in other capacities. In 1983, the newly formed UW School of Veterinary Medicine joined in facilitating activities at the show.
The event didn't stay a food exposition for long. Intercollegiate and 4-H dairy cattle judging contests were added in 1968, and two years later the contests previously held at Chicago's International Dairy Show merged into the Madison event. In 1969, the World Food Exposition was officially rebranded the World Dairy Expo. The show has been held in the first week of October nearly every year since 1967, with one exception: 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic forced its cancellation.
Since the late 1980s, the expo has also carried a theme, with the show ring decorated by two backdrops matching that year's motif — everything from simple to extravagant, including an "Excitement is Building" theme complete with a construction-style backdrop. The cattle themselves compete on colored wood shavings, and the color chosen for each expo is a closely guarded secret. Organizers estimate the event pumps roughly $31 million into the Dane County economy.
This year's gathering arrives against a harder backdrop than the show ring's decorations. Laura Herschleb, World Dairy Expo's general manager, told Spectrum News 1 that her team began welcoming cattle exhibitors the previous Wednesday, with the youth contest starting Saturday and the cattle show Sunday ahead of Tuesday's official opening.
While the expo is a celebration, Herschleb said the industry's real pressures will be on the table. "Fuel prices for diesel are sky-high levels. We would be remiss if we didn't acknowledge that," she said. "[We] are constantly looking for ways we can contribute and help the dairy industry through these challenges." She added that recent months have brought low milk prices across the country. "That coupled with some of these other challenges really makes times difficult for our dairy producers and our agriculturalists."
Those concerns will surface across a week of programming that goes well beyond the show ring. Educational sessions run Tuesday through Friday, covering herd health and nutrition, dairy technology, farm management and sustainability, alongside Dairy Forage Seminars, Knowledge Nook Sessions, Virtual Farm Tours and Expo en Español. The expo's youth pipeline remains a centerpiece: 4-H, FFA and other youth competitions and educational opportunities fill the schedule, from showmanship and fitting contests to judging contests that trace their lineage to 1968. School tours and career connections programming aim at the next generation of producers and industry professionals.
For the public, the expo is an open gate. Admission is paid for guests age 9 and older during the trade show, which runs Tuesday through Friday. On-site camping is available on a first-come, first-served basis. More information, including the complete schedule and ticket details, is available through the expo's website.
What began as a Wisconsin answer to a fading Iowa show — a 10-day food exposition with a spinning silo-roof globe — has become the largest and most important dairy cattle show in North America, drawing exhibitors and visitors from around the world to a city that wears its dairy identity proudly. For four days this fall, the trailers will line up, the shavings will be a secret, and the world's dairy industry will once again come home to Madison.