Agriculture

Chippewa Falls woman selected as 73rd Alice in Dairyland

Published

4 years ago

June 20, 2020

In the first-ever virtual Alice in Dairyland Finals hosted in partnership with Walworth County and the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, Julia Nunes of Chippewa Falls was selected as the 73rd Alice in Dairyland Saturday evening.

Nunes grew up on her family’s registered Holstein dairy farm, where feeding calves and clipping dairy cattle for the county fair were just a couple of things that helped shape her childhood. During her teen years, she was heavily involved in her area Junior Holstein group and 4-H club. Nunes went on to study at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, where she was involved in the Gopher Dairy Club and Lambda Delta Phi Sorority.

In 2017, she shared her knowledge of agriculture and the dairy industry while serving as the Northern Wisconsin State Fair’s Fairest of the Fair. Nunes interned at Redhead Creamery, where she sharpened her love of cheese. In May 2019, she graduated with bachelor’s degrees in Agricultural Communication & Marketing, and Animal Science, with minors in Agricultural & Food Business Management, and Horticulture. Upon graduation, she accepted a position with Kinni Hemp Company in River Falls.

“I will strive to be the role model that Alice in Dairyland was for me growing up,” said Nunes. “As Alice, I will explore Wisconsin’s agriculture and share my discoveries and knowledge gained with consumers and producers throughout the state.”

Kaitlyn Riley

Kaitlyn Riley’s passion for communications started on her family’s dairy farm in Gays Mills, Wis. Wanting to share agriculture’s story, she studied strategic communications and broadcast journalism at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In college, she held officer positions with the Association of Women in Agriculture and Badger Dairy Club while volunteering as a news reporter for the college radio station. She also founded the university’s first agricultural radio talk show, AgChat. In her professional career, Kaitlyn has worked in radio, print and television news doing everything from covering local events to interviewing presidential candidates, and putting back on her barn boots to chat with farmers in the field. Today, Kaitlyn can be seen covering local stories that matter to you in the La Crosse area.