Meet Sydney Endres

My Adventure in Agriculture - One of the lucky ones

I’m one of those lucky kids who got to grow up on a family farm in Wisconsin. I learned how to work and how to love and appreciate agriculture. I also learned how to add a little extra spunk into everyday life alongside the cows at Jazzy Jerseys, my home farm in Lodi, WI. I did regular farm kid things like 4-H, FFA and showing cows at the fair. At the Lodi Agricultural Fair, I realized in high school that my favorite part of the fair wasn’t showing, it was talking to people about my cows and watching someone’s eyes light up as they pet my cow or watched how I milked her. I soon realized heading to college to study Dairy Science and Communications would be a perfect fit, so I attended UW-Madison for the next four years.

Living in a barn

College graduation with a few of the Jersey cows at the UW Dairy Cattle Center and my home for three years.

For three years in college, I lived in our campus dairy barn. Coming from living my whole life in the country on a farm, I was excited to live in a city as big as Madison, but was definitely happy to return home to cows every day. While studying Dairy Science, I learned more about the science of a cow than most people will ever need to know. But, with my Life Sciences Communication classes, I learned how to make that information, like the biochemistry of a cow stomach, interesting to other people. Madison was a great place where I was surrounded with people from different backgrounds, and the more I talked about cows with them, the more we talked about food and agriculture.

Hanging with the goats while working in the Discovery Barnyard at WI State Fair.

Loving all of agriculture

While cows are where my background is, as I’ve learned more and more about Wisconsin agriculture, it’s pretty hard not to be proud of our outstanding industry. For four years during college, I co-hosted a radio show, ‘Ag Chat,’ where we talked about current events in Wisconsin agriculture for an hour each week. It’s truly fascinating. Additionally, through various agriculture organizations, I visited agricultural businesses all over the U.S. and saw our food, fuel and fiber system in action. Through multiple jobs and internships, I gained an in-depth perspective from businesses that keep the agriculture industry strong. And above all, I’ve met some amazing people along the way.

I’m Sydney Endres. I love agriculture. I love cross-country skiing, rock music and smiles. And I am so incredibly excited to start my journey as Alice in Dairyland with you all!