Posted: April 17, 2023
Four students from Penn State’s Department of Animal Science traveled to Saratoga Springs, NY, to be part of the North American Dairy Challenge, one of the premier learning and networking experiences for tomorrow’s dairy leaders. The event was hosted by the Northeast Region on March 30-April 1.
Dairy Challenge Academy and Team members from Penn State: Front, from left: Ashton Stiles, Lynneah Brady, Yvette Wolpo; Back, from left: Paige Peiffer, Jacob Brown, Ryan Allen, Justin Merry, Kendal Jenkins, Caroline Arrowsmith
Ryan Allen, Jefferson, MD; Caroline Arrowsmith, Peach Bottom, PA; Jacob Brown, Huntingdon, PA; and Yvette Wolpo, Stamford, CT placed fourth when evaluating Idea Dairy in Hudson Falls, NY. Idea Dairy, LLC is a registered Holstein herd, with 1,900 heifers and 3,400 mature cows.
Nearly 300 students from more than 31 universities participated in the event where students assess a dairy operation, collaborate on recommendations and present their findings to a team of judges and dairy managers.
Lisa Holden, Associate Professor of Dairy Science coached this year’s team with assistance from Virginia Ishler, Dairy Extension Associate. Holden, said, “The North American Dairy Challenge offers an extraordinary learning opportunity for students to visit outstanding dairies and evaluate in-depth the management of the dairies and offer recommendations. We are grateful to the producers who welcome these students onto their facilities.”
In addition to the team, five Penn State students also participated in the Dairy Academy which included opportunities to analyze a dairy as well as team building exercises. Academy students were Lynneah Brady, Big Cove Tannery, PA; Kendal Jenkins, Columbia Crossroads, PA; Justin Merry, Arkport, NY; Paige Peiffer, Lebanon, PA; and Ashton Stiles, Blairsville, PA.
The Academy students evaluated either Tiashoke Farms, Cambridge, a fourth-generation dairy farm, or Landview Farms, White Creek, with a milking herd of 1,400.
The 2023 event kicked off with a tour of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, followed by a stop at Saratoga County’s Welcome Stock Farm, Schuylerville, where brothers Bill and Neil Peck invited students to tour their family’s sixth-generation dairy farm in the town of Northumberland. The brothers’ 2,000-acre farm produces around 28 million pounds of milk each year, which is shipped off to be processed either in its liquid form or used to produce cheese and yogurt. They milk about 850 to 900 of their 1,000 mature cows every day, and raise about 1,100 young stock.
To prepare for the contest, the Penn State students evaluated Pennsylvania farms as part of a course. These practice farms help the students to hone their data analyses and farm evaluation skills and we are grateful to our farm collaborators. Stations at Welcome Stock Farm tour in New York gave students an opportunity to see the unique issues surrounding dairy farming in this area of New York as further preparation for the contest and academy.
Dairy Challenge is supported by financial contributions from industry, and a key part of the event is the opportunity for students, future industry leaders, to meet and network with industry professionals.
Funding for Penn State’s participation in the event came from the North American Intercollegiate Dairy Challenge Fund in the College of Agricultural Science established by alumnus Clifton Marshall, and contributed to by other alumni as well as from funding from the Pennsylvania Dairyman’s Association
NAIDC’s mission is to develop tomorrow’s dairy leaders and enhance progress of the dairy industry, by providing education, communication and networking among students, producers, and agribusiness and university personnel. Over its21-year national history, Dairy Challenge has helped prepare more than 7,000 students for careers as farm owners and managers, consultants, researchers, veterinarians or other dairy professionals. The Dairy Academy is in its tenth year.
