The Midwest Dairy Association educated 110 fifth grade students recently about how milk gets from the farm to their refrigerators. As part of the Central Plains Dairy Expo in Sioux Falls, S.D., the students toured the Dairy Kids Zone to learn about the dairy industry.

The event featured four learning stations that the students visited. At one station, they saw a video about dairy farming featuring a girl close to their own age. At another, dairy princesses showed them samples of food and bedding used by cows. At a third, Registered Dietitian Dawn Conrad of the Midwest Dairy Association staff helped them understand the variety of dairy products available to help them grow healthy and strong.

The final station was a walk through the Central Plains Expo to see the displays, including a robotic milking station and a methane digester. The students were able to feel the vacuum inside a milk machine and were introduced to a variety of the inputs required to produce milk on South Dakota dairy farms. At the end, students received milk from a dairy vending machine displayed at the Expo, and enjoyed cheese samples in a gift bag filled with 3-A-Day of Dairy items.