MADISON, Wis. — U.S. House Ag Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson, representing Pennsylvania’s 15th Congressional District, visited World Dairy Expo for the first time last Thursday, Oct. 1 at the invitation of the American Dairy Coalition (ADC) for a special Dairy Farmers’ Roundtable and press conference.

Dave Smith, longtime Pennsylvania Dairymen’s Association executive director who recently stepped down after 31 years and into a consulting role, participated in the afternoon roundtable and helped show Chairman Thompson around the cattle tents, pavilions and showring in the morning.

 Dodging the rain along the way, the Chairman met breeders and exhibitors and later walked the trade show with dairy farmers before joining producers from several states, including Smith, for the ADC Roundtable.

From the cows in the barns and the ring to the technology on display and a whole milk toast at the Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin Milk Bar, and the media interviews in between, it was really about the dairy people who made the 59th annual “meeting place for dairy” a national and international draw in Madison, Wisconsin.

“Whole milk champion” GT even walked the colored shavings during the International Guernsey Show, where fellow Pennsylvanian Kevin Stoltzfus of Warwick Manor Farm and Yoder’s Golden Guernsey Milk in East Earl was serving as associate judge.

“We had a good tour of the barns, and I had time with several constituents. It was a great visit!” he reported later.

There were cow displays and lighter moments, but Thompson’s first Expo visit also gave farmers something valuable: time with the Chairman of the House Ag Committee to talk about what is happening on their farms.