Fourteen Students Represent MSU at Midwest Regional Dairy Challenge
4/4/08
Contact: Sara Long
517-432-1555, ext. 170
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Inclement weather may have caused organizers of this year’s Midwest Regional Dairy Challenge to modify contest plans, but it didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the 102 students from 13 universities and colleges across the Midwest who participated.
Fourteen students represented Michigan State University (MSU) at the fourth annual contest, which was hosted by Purdue University from Jan. 31 to Feb. 2 in Merrillville, Ind.
Platinum winners from MSU were 2-year Institute of Agricultural Technology dairy management students Andre Bruinsma, of Morenci, and Mike Hattis, Fowler; and 4-year animal science undergraduate students Kayla Kreh, Kinde, and Katelyn Thompson, Charlotte.
Four MSU students won Gold placings: 2-year dairy management students Johan deGroot, Andrews, Ind., and Rebecca Hale, Brown City; and 4-year animal science undergraduate students Christine Hadley, Niles, and Laura Zeldenrust, Fremont. Silver award winners were MSU animal science students Nicole Beeching, Lawrence; Lindsey First, Ionia; Joe Pasch, Weidman; and Kayla Stomack, Minden City; and agribusiness management major Brad Curtis. Two-year dairy management student Greg Thon, Kingsley, also received a Silver award.
This year’s event drew contestants from Iowa State University, Kansas State University, Lakeshore Technical College, MSU, North Dakota State University, The Ohio State University, Purdue University, South Dakota State University, Southwest Wisconsin Technical College, the University of Illinois, the University of Minnesota, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.
The North American Dairy Challenge (NADC) consists of four regional intercollegiate dairy management competitions -- Midwest, Northeast, Southern and Western -- in addition to a national contest. The contest challenges students pursuing dairy-related programs at North American universities and trade schools to recall basic dairy management principles and their practical application, in addition to testing their organizational, time management, data analysis, public speaking, leadership and teamwork skills. Designed by dairy industry representatives and university faculty members and specialists, the event serves to increase students' knowledge and comprehension of dairy business management and prepare them for future careers in the dairy industry. The first NADC took place in 2002.
“The management contest incorporates all phases of a dairy business,” said Miriam Weber Nielsen, MSU associate professor of animal science and MSU Dairy Challenge coach. “The competition is a snapshot of what dairy consultants routinely do every day out in the field.”
Traditionally, students are transported by bus to local dairy farms on the day of the contest, where teams made up of four or five students from different universities conduct a walk-through of the dairies and analyze farm-specific data. After mulling over the information they collect on-site, each team develops its own set of management recommendations, which it presents to a panel of judges and the farm owners. This year, a heavy snowstorm prevented the buses from traveling to the contest farms. Instead, students conducted their evaluations by viewing virtual farm tours and interviewing the farm owners.
“The contest provides an opportunity for students to work together as a team and to take what they’ve learned in the classroom and apply it to a real-time situation,” Weber Nielsen said. “Students identify the skills and knowledge they will need to succeed in various roles in the dairy industry while making valuable contacts with other dairy students and industry professionals.”
Curtis, a two-time participant in the contest, applauded the competition as a wonderful educational and networking experience.
“This contest is more about meeting people in our industry and talking with them than it is about competing,” he said. “From the mixed group of students to the number of industry representatives present, it is clear to me that the focus of the contest is on getting to know new people and being introduced to new and different ideas.”
The NADC is supported financially through industry donations and coordinated by a volunteer board of directors. The 2008 national contest takes place April 4-5 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the 2009 Midwest Regional Dairy Challenge is scheduled for January 29-31 at the University of Minnesota in Rochester, Minn.
To learn more about the regional or national North American Dairy Challenge competitions, visit www.dairychallenge.org.
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