Davis College
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West Virginia University will be among thirty-one universities from the United States and Canada planning to compete in the upcoming 2009 North American Intercollegiate Dairy Challenge (NAIDC), March 27-28, in Syracuse, N.Y. Hosted by the Northeast Regional Dairy Challenge Committee, 124 students will participate in this year’s contest. Michael Van Amburgh of Cornell University and Barry Putnam of Genex serve as this year’s contest co-chairs. Participants from WVU’s Davis College of Agriculture, Forestry and Consumer Sciences include animal and nutritional sciences majors Nate Dean of Morgantown, Jen Lydon of Morgantown, Josh Peplowski of Beaver, WV, and Seth Rader of Summersville, WV.

Dairy Challenge involves four-person teams and allows top collegiate students in dairy programs from North America to compete in a management analysis and recommendation program. Students gain several experiences through this event. They visit a modern dairy and evaluate the business through observation and interviews with the herd owner and/or manager. They work as a team to identify management recommendations for the dairy. And, they present these recommendations to a panel of judges.

Students are also given time during the event to visit with NAIDC sponsors for educational and recruitment opportunities. Sponsors consist of companies, organizations and dairy producers who are 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. It also allows dairy science and business management academic programs to measure themselves against North America’s best. Currently, more than 120 sponsors support NAIDC contests, programs and activities. Sponsors take an active role in the contest, giving them an exciting recruitment opportunity where they get to see some of North America’s brightest students.

The North American Dairy Challenge was established as a management contest to incorporate all phases of a specific dairy business. It strives to incorporate a higher learning atmosphere with practical application to help prepare students for careers in the dairy industry. Supported financially through generous donations by industry and coordinated by a volunteer board of directors, the first NAIDC was held in April 2002. For more information about NAIDC, log on to www.dairychallenge.org.

Related link:

• Students score at dairy challenge