Good luck to all the participating dairy students! Can’t wait to hear the results! Thirty-one universities from the United States and Canada will compete in the eighth annual North American Intercollegiate Dairy Challenge, March 27-28 in Syracuse, N.Y.
The annual competition draws the best and brightest among college students enrolled in dairy science programs across North America to compete in a management analysis and recommendation program. According to contest co-chairs Michael Van Amburgh of Cornell University and Barry Putnam of Genex, 124 students will participate in this year’s contest.
Over the two-day event, they will visit selected dairy farms and evaluate the business through both observation and interviews with the herd owner and/or manager. Working in teams, they will identify management recommendations, then present these for evaluation by a panel of judges with expertise in herd management, animal health and ag business finance.
Currently, more than 120 sponsors support NAIDC contests, programs and activities. Sponsors include companies, organizations and dairy business owners committed to cultivating tomorrow’s dairy leaders. Their support encourages enhanced training and motivation of dairy students to be better prepared for the dairy industry’s future. Many sponsors take an active role in the contest, giving them an exciting recruitment opportunity where they get to meet some of North America’s brightest students and see them in action.
The mission of the North American Dairy Challenge (NAIDC) is to facilitate education, communication and an exchange of ideas among students, agribusiness, dairy producers and universities that enhances the development of the dairy industry and its leaders. Supported financially through generous donations by industry and coordinated by a volunteer board of directors, NAIDC has been held annually since April of 2002.