MOHRSVILLE, Pa. – Brinley Hess, the daughter of Jason and Jennifer Hess, was crowned Berks County Dairy Princess on May 3rd at the Mohrsville Church of the Brethren. Also introduced at the conclusion of the pageant were alternate dairy princesses Rebecca Berger, Kayla Kehl, and Lucy Kerr, and Berks County Lil Miss Jordie Kelchner.

Brinley is a senior at Brandywine Heights High School and plans to pursue a career as a veterinary technician. She is interning at the Kutztown Animal Hospital. A member of the Kutztown FFA Chapter, Brinley was recently named the Kutztown Rotary Student of the Month.

Rebecca Berger is the daughter of Glenn and Heidi Berger. She is employed at her uncle’s dairy farm near Oley. A 2024 graduate of Oley Valley High School, she is currently studying food science at Penn State. In high school, she was a member of the Oley FFA Chapter and served as chaplain. She earned the Pennsylvania FFA Keystone Degree and other FFA awards. She is also a member of the Eastern Berks 4-H Dairy Club, of which she is the vice president.

Kayla Kehl is the daughter of Stacey Moser and Ray Kehl. A 2024 graduate of Hamburg Area School District, she is currently working on the Adams Farm and at the Westy Bar and Grill. She plans are to attend the Reading School of Health Sciences for medical imaging. While in high school, she was involved in the Agriculture Club, HOSA (Health Occupations Students of America, NTHS (National Technical Honor Society) and also played field hockey.

Lucy Kerr, the daughter of William and Regina Kerr, is a junior at Schuylkill Valley High School and involved in FFA, National Honor Society, DECA Club, and cheerleading. In the FFA program, she has received the Green Hand Award and is the club secretary. She milks cows at Reu-Hel Farms.

Jordie Kelchner is the 5-year-old daughter of Mitchell and Kate Kelchner. She enjoys being on her family’s farm, especially all of the animals.

During the pageant, the girls presented their speeches to the those in attendance. Both Lucy and Kayla spoke on the life cycle of a cow; Brinley spoke on how dairy farms provide a variety of jobs and a nutritional product, and Rebecca’s speech was on food safety.

All of the contestants had to answer an impromptu question: “What is the biggest obstacle facing dairy farmers today?”

Brinley said the challenge is that younger generations are not taking over farms and a lot of people are having to sell their farms. Rebecca and Kayla both answered the question by  talking about the rising costs in farming. Lucy spoke of keeping things clean and maintaining the farm.

The Berks County Dairy Princess Promotion Committee thanks Charlotte Wallace, the outgoing Berks County Dairy Princess and reigning Pennsylvania State Dairy Princess; Brinley Hess, the outgoing Berks County Alternate Dairy Princess, and Katherine Rohrbach, last year’s Berks County Lil Miss for a wonderful job of promoting and representing the Berks County dairy industry this past year. 

The emcee for the pageant was Jennifer Grime, a former Berks County and Pennsylvania State Dairy Princess.