Meet Jesslyn Risser, the 2025-26 Lebanon County Dairy Princess

As the reigning Lebanon County Dairy Princess, Jesslyn Risser is living out her girlhood dream while promoting the county’s dairy industry.

Jesslyn is the 16-year-old daughter of John and Alisha Risser, who have a dairy farm with 80 dairy cows in South Lebanon Township. She is the youngest of four siblings — Abby, Audrie, and Ethan — and the last one on the dairy farm.

“On the farm, I work on the calves, mostly feeding them, watering them, making sure that they’re well taken care of, from newborns all the way until they’re full adult cow. I also help with milkings,” she said.

“It has been very tough, I will admit, being the last kid in the family to be working on the farm. But through it all, we’re making it work, and we’re making sure those cows are comfortable at all times.”

As a girl, Jesslyn was inspired to join the Lebanon County Dairy Promotion Program to promote the county’s dairy industry, which she was and continues to be a part of.

“When I found out my mom was a Dairy Princess, I was in awe. I knew right away. I told my mom. I was like, ‘I want to be a Dairy Princess when I grow up!'” she told LebTown.

With the support of her family’s dairy royalty — including her mother Alisha and an older sister Audrie, both of whom served as Lebanon County Dairy Princesses — Jesslyn joined the Lebanon County Dairy Promotion Program.

“I learned that it wasn’t just the sash and tiara or the family tradition, it was so much more,” she said. “It was the opportunities … and meeting new people and being able to share what we do on our farms.”

Jesslyn served as Lil’ Dairy Miss, Dairy Miss, Dairy Maid, and now Dairy Princess. She was the only candidate competing for the title at the Lebanon County Dairy Princess Pageant this May, which involved a three- to five-minute speech as well as a three- to five-minute skit.

The 2025-26 Lebanon County Dairy Princess said the most challenging but most rewarding part of the pageant was the skit.

“I put a lot of emotion into it and a lot of work into it just to make sure that it was the best that I could do,” she said. “But it was also a lot of fun being able to get into that creative mode and being able to express myself in the dairy industry.”

As Dairy Princess, Jesslyn told LebTown that she has developed her public speaking skills while meeting new people, visiting new places, and observing how other fairs and dairy farms are run.

“My mission this year … is that I am able to talk to the public and be able to let them know about dairy farmers and what they do and just make sure that they know where their milk is coming from, because I know farmers, their work sometimes does go unnoticed,” she said.

When asked if she is considering competing for the fair queen title at the Lebanon Area Fair, Jesslyn said the fair queen promotes the agricultural industry more broadly, which she doesn’t feel well-equipped for.

She said that 2025 Lebanon Area Fair Queen Olivia Morrissey and alternate queen Sarah Feagley are “so sweet” and “doing an awesome job” at the start of their reign.

“It’s just amazing that they’re putting themselves out there and being able to take on that leadership role. But again, it’s just something not for me. Maybe I will run in the future, but time will tell.”

Read More: Passing the crown to the 2025 Lebanon Area Fair Queen, Alternate, and Princess

However, Jesslyn may exceed her girlhood dreams and extend her reign as dairy royalty by competing for the state title in the 69th annual Pennsylvania Dairy Princess Competition this September.

In addition to her roles in the county’s dairy industry, Jesslyn serves as vice president of the Cedar Crest FFA chapter and competes in pole vault with the school’s track and field team.

Looking towards the future, the rising Cedar Crest High School senior told LebTown that she plans to attend Penn State University and major in either dairy science to become a herdsman or education to become a teacher.

“Dairy Princesses opened my eyes to education, so that really just made me want to be able to promote it to kids all around at high school ages,” Jesslyn said. “But I also thought about becoming a herdsman. Like I said before with my mission, farmers work exceedingly hard, and the stress levels that they go through on a day-to-day basis are truly tough.”