It’s been three years in the making, but it looks like the proposed Dairyland State Academy might have gotten a new pair of running shoes and will soon take launch. The Dairyland State Academy is a two-year associates degree that will focus on energy efficiency in dairies. The program would be based on Northeast Iowa Community College’s dairy science program at its dairy education and applied research center in Calmar, Iowa.
This degree would be transferrable to a four-year institution. I think it sounds like an amazing program to help jumpstart an individual into the dairy production and manufacturing world. The Wisconsin Ag Connection shares the news of the approved funding for this program.

The proposed Dairyland State Academy was given a much needed lifeline on Tuesday when the Marathon County Board voted to provide $1 million in funding to help buy farmland and classroom facilities for the project. Organizers of the central Wisconsin-based school, which would offer classes from Northcentral Technical College, the University of Wisconsin-Marathon County, UW-River Falls and UW-Madison, have been on edge lately after county supervisors postponed their decision to provide the money during recent board meetings.

According to Gannett Newspapers, board members didn’t approve the taxpayer funding without some lengthy discussion. One amendment to the resolution would have given the school incremental payments over a certain time period. But that idea was later dropped.