4H: Dairy goats at PA Farm Show 2026

2-4-26

By Lucas Rozelle, Jill Kutz Swartley
HARRISBURG — At the 2026 Pa Farmshow, Borderline Livestock & Community 4-H Club had three youths competing in the Senior Showmanship division. Thursday, Jan. 15 hosted the showmanship and type shows for 4H and FFA and Friday Jan. 16 was the open dairy goat show.
Tristan Rozelle, Emily and Sarah Gorham were three 4-H youth representing Borderline Livestock & Community 4-H Club. There were 12 youth participating from across the state in the senior division with Sarah Gorham finishing first, Emily Gorham finishing second, and Rozelle finishing fourth out of the 12 youth.
In the intermediate youth group, the club had a new 4-Her joining this year, Joy Mulligan, who placed fifth of 10 youth exhibiting in showmanship class from across the state. And our final youth in the Junior Division was returning Caitlin Demarest, who won the class being first of four youth in the showmanship class.
The youth then moved into the type part of the 4-H show with their dairy goats on Jan. 16. Caitlin Demarest was first in the show ring with her Alpine dairy goats. Demarest’s doe Astoria was in the Jan-March class, going two of four animals. Astoria was second out of four animals in that class.
Demarest’s doe Aspen went third of five in the 3 & under 4 age group in milk class. Demarest then showed her Toggenburgs next, with Fanny going first and Florence going third in the 3 & under 4 age group in milk class. Fanny was Grand Champion of the Toggenburg Breed & the Best of Breed for the Toggenburg 4-H show.
We then moved onto the Lamancha show, with Sarah Gorham showing Lainey in the under 2 age group in milk, going first with only one in the class. Emily Gorham showed Gin N Tonic, going first in a class of three in the 2 & under 3 age group in milk. Sarah Gorham went back in the ring with Lena going first of 10 does in the 3 & under four age group in milk.
Tristan Rozelle was last in the ring with his doe Juno winning the 5 & older age group in milk as well as the Grand Champion of the Lamancha Breed & the Best of Breed for the Lamancha 4-H show. Our last youth to do type class was Joy Mulligan in the recorded grade, with Mulligan showing Evanna going second out of two goats in the under 2 age group in milk class. Both Demarest’s doe Fanny and Tristan’s doe Juno were in the lineup for Best of Doe of the 4-H Show. But the Best of Doe for the 4-H Show went to the Alpine doe this year, marking the end of the show on Thursday.
On Friday, the youth then moved into the open show starting with the Alpine does from Caitlin Demarest. Her doe Astoria was placed eighth out of eight does in the Jan-Mar class. And her doe Aspen went seventh of seven goats in the 3 & under 4 does age group in milk. We then moved onto the Lamancha show with Sarah Gorham showing Lainey in the under 2 age group in milk, going first with only one in the class. Emily Gorham then showed Gin N Tonic going second out of eight does with Sarah Gorham showing 4-H leader Jill Kutz Swartley’s doe KokoChanel going first of eight does, both in the 2 and under 3 in milk class. Next, Sarah Gorham was showing Lena going first of 11 does, and Emily Gorham showed Swartley’s doe KokoCabanna going two out of 11, both in the 3 & under four in milk class.
Tristan Rozelle was in the next class with Juno going second of seven does in the over 5 in milk class. Swartley’s doe KokoChanel won the Lamancha Show winning Grand Champion & Best of Breed for the Lamancha open show.
In the specialty classes KokoChanel won Best Doe Bred & Owned, & won the Dam & Daughter class with her mother KokoCabanna. Sarah Gorham’s does Lena and Lainey were second in the Dam & Daughter class with nine total entered. Caitlin Demarest now was in the ring with her Toggenburg doe Fanny, going second of seven and her twin sister Florence going sixth of seven does in the 3 & under 4 class.
We then moved into the final breed of the day, the Recorded Grade does with Kylie Demarest’s (Caitlin’s younger sister) doe Jelly in the Jan-Mar class going third of 13 & Fireblast going fourth of 13 in the same class. Kylie Demarest then had her doe Brenda in the 3 & under 4 in milk going fifth of nine does in milk. Kylie Demarest owns the goats and Riley Traver showed the goats for her.
Sioux, Kylie Demarest’s final doe in the 5 & older in milk class, went fourth of six does. In the specialty classes, Best doe breed by exhibitor was Brenda, who went 10th of 18. Dam & Daughter were Sioux & Brenda going fifth of 11, and in the dairy herd class going fourth of four herds with Sioux, Brenda, Jelly & Fireblast.
In the recorded grade class, Joy Mulligan’s doe Evanna was fourth of four does, adding Swartley’s doe Dottie to second of four and doe Ever going third of four does in the 2 & under age group in milk class. Swartley’s doe Everleen was third of nine in the 2 & under 3 age group in milk class.
In the Champion Challenge, Evanka, Swartley’s doe, went two of three. In the specialty classes Swartley’s doe Dottie went seventh of 18 does in the Best Doe Bred & Owned. Her Dam & Daughter does Everleen and Ever were fourth of 11 in the Get-of-Sire class going third of six with Evanna, Dottie and Ever, and in the dairy herd class going third of four herds shown with Evanka, Everleen, Ever and Dottie.
If you are interested in 4-H for your family, reach out to 4-H leaders Jill Kutz Swartley at 607-237-6053 or Stephanie Rozelle at 570-309-7955. The 4-H club meets monthly at The Relic downtown Montrose, PA by the light. Our club focuses on dairy goats, production livestock and community club activities. With a focus on the Cloverbud program for youth that are 5, 6, or 7 years of age. Our upcoming dairy goat regional clinic will be held at the Wyoming County fairgrounds April 11, 2026 from 8 a.m. – 2 p.m. with our American Dairy Goat Association sanctioned 4-H and FFA show being held June 20, 2026 at the Wyoming County Fairgrounds from 8 a.m. – 2 p.m. This is open to people in the general area to come out and learn more about the world of dairy goats!