Amid continuing trade tensions between Canada and the United States, a 16-year-old Canadian student and her cow have attracted attention by winning two major honours at World Dairy Expo, one of the dairy industry's leading events, in Wisconsin.

Alyson Doiron, 16, from Cap-Santé, Quebec, competed in Madison, Wisconsin, with her five-year-old Holstein cow, Arolene Dempsey Ella. Known as Ella, the cow first won the five-year-old class at the International Junior Holstein Show before being named Grand Champion.

World Dairy Expo is more than an ordinary livestock exhibition. It is regarded as one of the most prestigious events in the global dairy industry. A major award can increase an animal's market value by tens of thousands of dollars and may also raise the value of its future offspring.

Alyson described a particularly close bond with Ella. She said she had liked the cow since childhood and that, although her family sold Ella at one stage, the cow was later bought back.

She also expressed pride that the victory demonstrated the strength of Quebec's dairy and cattle-breeding sector.

Although World Dairy Expo is an international event, animal health and safety regulations mean the cows competing directly come predominantly from Canadian and American farms.

Tensions in Canada-U.S. trade relations also drew attention in the background of this year's exhibition.

Brian Carscadden, a co-owner and senior executive at Blondin Sires, travelled more than 1,500 kilometres from Quebec with 25 cows to take part. He said the current trade dispute had not yet significantly affected the company's business operations.

He noted that some American acquaintances made jokes and occasionally critical remarks about the Canada-U.S. trade dispute. Nevertheless, he said the trade war was not the main topic of conversation among farmers at the exhibition.

Some American farmers interviewed by CBC News at the event, however, expressed dissatisfaction with the Trump administration's trade policies.

Paula Lawver, an Indiana woman connected with the dairy industry, described the current dispute with Canada as unnecessary. She told CBC News that rising costs and the impact of tariffs would also influence her political choices.

New York farmer Seth Muck said fertiliser prices had doubled compared with the previous year. With agricultural production costs increasing, he also voiced concern about current economic and trade policies.

Retired Wisconsin farmer Gary Craugh criticised the approach taken by both Canada and the United States to the trade dispute. Another retired farmer, John Galgowski, said he did not understand why the problem between the two countries had escalated so far.

CBC News reported that, among the Americans it spoke with at World Dairy Expo for its story, it did not encounter anyone openly supporting the harsh political rhetoric surrounding Canada-U.S. relations. This reflects the views of those interviewed by the broadcaster and should not be treated as the position of all American farmers.

At a G20 trade ministers' meeting in Milwaukee, approximately 120 kilometres from Madison, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer defended the Trump administration's America First trade policy.

In his prepared remarks, Greer said American workers and their families were better off than they had been before Donald Trump took office.

Meanwhile, Trump administration trade adviser Peter Navarro had previously issued a strong warning over Canadian efforts to campaign against the administration's tariffs in U.S. border states.

Despite these political and trade tensions, Canadian and American farmers at World Dairy Expo focused on their cattle, genetic improvement and the future of the dairy industry.

With American, Canadian and Mexican flags flying in the Madison exhibition arena, cross-border competition and cooperation remained visible in agriculture even as political tensions continued between the two countries.

Against that backdrop, the success of Quebec's 16-year-old Alyson Doiron and her cow Ella represented a notable achievement for Canada.