Katelyn Walley Crowned New York Ayrshire Princess

“I would like to be the New York Ayrshire Princess not for the crown or the sash or the honor, but for the responsibility. I believe that being the Ayrshire Princess should be a reward, but a job” said Katelyn Walley. Katelyn Walley, the 19 year-old daughter of Bill and Kim Walley of Gold-N-Ayr Farms, Walton, New York was crowned the New York Ayrshire Princess during the New York Ayrshire Club picnic hosted at Cedarcut Farm, Cazenovia, New York.
Walley, a sophomore at Cornell University, served as New York State Alternate Dairy Princess, was a member of the National Champion Ayrshire Dairy Bowl Team from New York in 2011. She is a member of the Cornell Dairy Science Club and is serving as the Professional Development Chair of the Cornell University Sigma Alpha Chapter. Katelyn was been very active in 4-H and FFA on the county, state and national levels. She also is a National Coca-Cola Scholar, New York State Farm Bureau Scholar, and a Dairy Herd Improvement Scholar.
Katelyn is very active on her family farm; Gold-N-Ayr Farm where they milk 45 registered Ayrshires. Starting at a young age she helped in the barn and now can run the farm by herself. The farm is run entirely on family labor, which includes her father, herself and her 5 younger siblings and feels the Ayrshires are working just as hard for them. When asked how she has benefited from her experiences with Ayrshires, Katelyn replied, “Through my experience with Ayrshires, I have grown into the young women I am today. I find that many traits I now possess I have learned from my Ayrshires; hard work and efficiency.” Katelyn went on the say “ I have also learned a lot from the Ayrshire community, I believe that all Ayrshire breeders share the same universal pride in the cattle they own, and this brings us all together; Ayrshire breeders are like family.”
The 2010-2011 New York Ayrshire Princess, Sara Pulver, of Fort Edward, New York, crowned Walley. Pulver was recognized and thanked for an outstanding job during her reign as Ayrshire Princess. Pulver traveled through out New York and into New England representing the Ayrshire Breeders’ of New York State.
During her reign, Walley will promote the Ayrshire Breed and the dairy industry across New York State. She would like to “share her experiences with the Ayrshire cow to show all that they have to offer, and spread the work about their place not only in the show ring and pasture, but in our modern commercial dairy farms” Ayrshires have so many great attributes that can solve a lot of problems modern farmers face, all we need to do is market these traits”. Walley said her “love for the Ayrshire breeds gives me the drive to promote the complete cow.”