Published 2:42 pm Friday, March 28, 2025
Cydney Stables, a fifth generation dairy farmer, has been crowned the 2025-26 Oregon Dairy Princess Ambassador.
The 22-year-old Gaston, Ore., resident has generational ties to royalty.
“My mom (Carla Evers Stables) was an alternate state dairy princess back in the day,” she said.
Her aunt, Karen Evers, was the princess ambassador in 1985, and her cousin, Jaime Evers, won that role in 2020.
Stables wants to share her family’s agricultural values and help Oregonians understand the dairy industry.
“Farmers truly care about what they do. They care for their cows and they treat them humanely,” Stables said.
She also hopes to boost the consumption of milk products.
Many aspirants to the crown are high school seniors.
Stables attended Amity High School, where her father, John Stables, is the ag teacher, and she graduated in 2021 during the COVID pandemic. She didn’t think that was ideal timing to be a dairy princess ambassador.
“I pushed it back until I was exiting college,” Stables said.
She’s now a senior at Graceland University in Iowa, where she’s studying agricultural business, business administration, communications and economics.
Stables is taking a gap year to dedicate more time to the position.
After her work as Oregon Dairy Princess Ambassador, Stables will attend graduate school at Kansas State University.
She’s aiming for a master’s degree in agricultural economics and wants to research direct-to-consumer markets such as farm stands.
“My interest stems from my parent’s business,” she said.
CJD Gardens is primarily a nursery and greenhouse products operation, but the business also sells cut flowers, eggs, berries and other produce at its farm stand and market booths.
Stables hopes to work in extension services or higher education.
Whatever her job, Stables plans to own dairy cows.
She grew up working on her family’s dairy farm and her grandparents’ dairy in Banks, Ore., and enjoyed showing dairy cattle in 4-H and FFA.
The dairy aspect at her parents’ property has been scaled back because Stables and her brother, John Stables, 23, are both in college. The family currently has a small herd of six cows.
Anna Wismer, 18, a 2024 graduate of Gaston High School, was named the Alternate Dairy Princess Ambassador during a ceremony in early March at the Oregon Dairy Farmers Convention.
Wismer is studying agricultural sciences at Portland Community College.
She’s a seventh generation dairy farmer.
Oregon Dairy Women
The Oregon Dairy Women, an all-volunteer, nonprofit organization, crown the princess and alternate to promote the dairy industry.
Stables and Wismer will spend the next year traveling throughout Oregon, attending fairs, town meetings and public events as representatives of the state’s dairy farmers.
They’ll also visit schools, educating students about life on a farm and the nutritional benefits of dairy products.
Stables and Wismer received scholarships for their education.
Outgoing princess ambassador Mackenzie Mitchell, who connected with more than 10,000 students, received $15,600 for her work.
Other state finalists this year were Tayva Forman of Lake County; Bailey McDonald, representing Linn and Benton counties, and Madyson Grimes of Tillamook County. McDonald was honored with the congeniality award.
