Clermont Youth Makes A Name For Herself In Dairy

If you’re looking for tomorrow’s leaders in agriculture, you just need to look at a small beef farm just outside of Clermont where you will find Kerigan Alexander.

I've always lived on a farm my entire life, and I started 4-H and FFA in seventh grade. And today, five years later, I've been heavily involved in it.

Kerigan is a member of the Eldorado Eagles and is one of the recipients of the 2022 KOEL Ag Youth Award.

Kerigan and her dad work together to care for their cattle operation where they have 50 beef cows and about 50 more head of heifers and steers. Kerigan has also branched out and started her own herd of dairy show cattle.

My dad, before I was born, used to milk- so I never really got to experience that whole side. I started in sixth grade taking care of bottle calves- these are just dairy crosses that you get from the sale barn- and by the time I hit seventh grade, I wanted to start showing dairy. I didn’t necessarily want to show the beef that is on our farm, I wanted to try something different. Once I started showing dairy, I got much more involved.

And when Kerigan says she got more involved she means it.

Kerigan is the current Fayette County Dairy Princess and Iowa Jersey Princess. On top of that, she is active in FFA competing on her school’s FFA Dairy Judging Team, and won both districts and state this past year. She and her team will be competing in the national contest later this October in Indianapolis.

The KOEL Ag Youth Award is awarded to outstanding youth in agriculture within the KOEL listener area. This year, applications were accepted during the Fayette County Fair.